Wind's Return
by MidnightTwi
Summary: It has been a year since Link defeated Vaati, the evil wind mage that turned Princess Zelda to stone, and all has been peaceful, until a girl named Twi finds a mysterious boy in Minish Woods. Slight VaatixOC but no hardcore romance.
1. Chapter 1: Return to Light

No wind blew, no light shone. Darkness was all that surrounded. Many have tried to run, but due to the Light Force, all in the Shadow Realm were trapped. A dark figure sat alone, chained to the wall. He stared at the ground with red eyes, a T-shaped scar under both eyes, and one eye hidden by light purple hair. He wore a purple tunic with orange pants, and a violet hat with a red jewel lay beside him. His hat was worn and was falling apart, the jewel was scratched up. He was a prisoner in the world of the ultimate prison. Only the Light Force kept them there, and only the Light Force could set them free.

The prisoner in purple sat in silence. He had none of his powers left, they were taken from him in his last battle in the light. Suddenly, the red jewel on the hat glowed faintly. The fabric restored itself. The prisoner looked down at his hat and smirked, his waiting was over. He casually picked up his hat and placed it on his head. With the one wish the hat held to the one who possessed it, he could get out of the eternal prison. The other prisoners looked over at him as he placed the hat neatly on his head.

"Yo, Almighty Powerful Wind Mage! How is your agenda of terror doing? Still being a bum?" One said.  
"Hehe, what happened to Mr. 'I will prove myself'? Huh? Oh yea, he was beat by a boy who asked his hat for directions!" The second said.  
"Haha! Didn't YOU turn that old coot into a hat? Wow, beaten by your own victim!"

The two shadows continued laughing as the chained prisoner slowly stood up, his eyes glued to the ground.

"Hey, don't you go thinkin' that they chained you because you're to be feared!" The first said.  
"Yea! They _HAD_ to chain you because you're a nuisance!"  
"Yea, exactly! Now, don't hurt yourself trying to get out of your chains! Your little dream of gettin out of here is dead! Not even the Big Guy can get out!"

The prisoner smirked again. He took his eyes off the ground and glared at them.

"Hehehehe..." That was a laugh that had been silent since he was defeated. "...Don't worry. I won't hurt myself getting out. I will prove myself."

The prisoners that mocked him started laughing as he raised his arm up and swung it out against the chain. Instead of stopping his arm when the chain tightened, it broke into shadow. The mocking prisoners stopped laughing and gasped. The chains from his legs and other arms also broke as he fought against them. They suddenly dissolved into shadow as the once chained prisoner walked casually toward the mockers. His smirk turned into a smile and his red eyes glared through the darkness. His laugh echoed in their heads.

"Hehehe...see you on the other side." He said.

"H-He...escaped! Guys! He's out! He escaped! The Wind Mage is out!"

The Wind Mage rolled his eyes and began to run. Only some of his powers worked in the Shadow Realm, he needed to get to the entrance. That was the only place where he could get out, if he could break the door. He heard the other prisoners come after him. He ran faster, he could see the gates to the Shadow Realm. He prayed that he had enough power to break through to the Light World. Behind him, a tall muscular man pointed his right index and middle fingers at him with his other fingers bent inward, his thumb pointing upward. Lightning sprang from his fingertips and struck the running prisoner. The Wind Mage fell as lightning struck his back and coursed through his body. He slowly lifted himself off the ground and looked back at the man who struck him. He ran again, just a few more yards and he was home free. He looked back again and was suddenly shot by lightning again; this time it hit his shoulder. He stumbled and fell face-up. He looked helplessly at the fake sky, unable to move. He felt his consciousness slipping away. The man that shot him began to walk toward him casually with a disapproving look on his face that seemed to say "This is getting old". As he took his steps, the Wind Mage faded away to shadow. The man stopped and watched in confusment. That never happened to the prisoners he stopped. The shadow suddenly vanished into nothing, small dark particles rose upward. The man glared in anger. The prisoner got out. He yelled and cursed at the fake sky.

"...He got out...before me...Damn Wind Mage...I'll find you. If you got out...then the force is breaking."

The wind blew gently in a forest darkened by the trees above. A girl with dark blue eyes and long blonde hair walked past the trees. The shadows of the trees stretched by her as the sun began to set. She sighed and sat by a stump in boredom. She felt the wind quickly blow her hair back gently, shifting from blowing her hair into her face to out of her face. She had a strange feeling that the wind was trying to direct her somewhere. She ignored it for a moment then turned her head the direction it was blowing. In the middle of the path, a dark figure dissolved into light a few feet off the ground. The wind blew at him as he landed gently; it seemed that it was trying to slow his fall. The girl stared at him as he lay on the ground motionless. She stood up off the stump and stared at him for a moment, waiting for him to get up and move. She slowly walked toward him, still waiting. As she got closer, she saw that he had pale skin with a purple tint, light purple bangs that covered one eye, purple hair that was barely shorter than hers, a T-shaped scar under each eye, a violet tunic, cape, and hat, and orange pants and shoes. She stopped and stared at the boy, deciding on what to do. She finally ran toward him and put his arm around her shoulders and lifted him off the ground. His hat fell to the ground, but the girl seemed to not notice. She ran with him closer to the edge of the forest. She passed the sign that read 'Picori Woods' and entered a house close by.

"M-Mom!" She said.

A woman in her 30's with short blonde hair and green eyes walked into the room.

"Twi, your dress is almost done." She said before she noticed the unconscious boy in her daughter's arms. "Oh my...what happened to him?"

"I don't know, mom! But he's hurt! We have to help him!" The girl said in concern.

"Ok,ok. Put him in the guest room and I'll get some red potion." the mother said.

The girl that was called 'Twi' walked into her guest room and placed him on the bed. Her mother walked in with a bottle of red liquid.

"Here we are. Red potion. If it helps the Hero of Hyrule, then it should help this boy."

Twi held the boy up as her mother gave the red potion to him. Moments after he drank it, his scratches on his legs and bruises on his wrists began to heal up. The mother looked at his back then at his shoulder. She inspected the wounds.

"Well, I can only imagine what happened! It looks like wounds from lightning, but we haven't had any rain the past few days, and they had no lightning. Where did you find him?"

Twi looked down at the boy before answering.

"I was walking through the woods and found him on the ground. Maybe monsters got him?"

"Maybe...but he has a very good costume! About as good as yours! Oh and the festival is tomorrow..."

"Mom!" Twi said, cutting her off. "Stop trying to hook me up with guys that come here to get help!"

"Sorry, it was just a thought!"

Her mother laughed and opened the door.

"Well, it's getting dark! You should go upstairs and get that homework done!" Her mother said as Twi walked out.

"All we're doing for homework is read about last year."

"That's your favorite story! And you know almost everything about the Wind Mage!" She looked at the door to the guest room. "Hey!"

"Mother!" Twi said as she ran upstairs to her room, leaving her laughing mother behind.

She sat on the ledge of her window and picked up the text book. She flipped though the pages and stopped at a picture that was painted by a witness of the Wind Mage from the year before.

"...he returned...just like in my dreams." She said to herself.

**_The only characters in this story to this point that belong to me are Twi and her mother. I guess the shadows at the begining do too, if you want to be specific._**

**_Feel free to review._**

**_~MidnightTwi_**


	2. Chapter 2: Reunion

The sunlight shone through the upstairs window, waking Twi from her sleep. She got up and walked down the steps, noticing that her mother was still asleep. She quietly opened the guest room door and looked in at the boy. He was still unconscious, but he looked better. The scrapes on his legs were gone and the bruises on his wrists were barely visible. She smiled and closed the door. She turned around and jumped from being startled that her mother was standing right behind her.

"So, is he still asleep?" She asked.

"Yea. But he looks much better!"

"I think his looks are the same to you. Attractive and..."

"Mom!" Twi said, cutting her off.

"Ok, ok, sorry!" She laughed.

Twi rolled her eyes and walked past her.

"Oh, Twi! Go put your costume on!" Her mother said.

"Why? The festival isn't until a few hours." Twi said.

"I need to fix one more thing on it before you go."

The prisoner's senses slowly began returning to him. He felt a small pain in his back and shoulder where he was struck by lightning. His eyes refused to open, he imagined opening his eyes and being in chains once again with his prison neighbors mocking him. He laid there for a moment then slowly opened his eyes. He stared up at the ceiling he never seen before as his blurred vision slowly sharpened. He glanced around in confusement, wondering where he was. He spotted a girl with long blonde hair that in a long royal purple dress. He painfully sat up, staring at the girl. He placed his hand over the wound on his shoulder as it throbbed in pain. The constant throbbing sent small shocks through his body as he remembered the lightning passing through his body. His crimson eyes stared at the girl as she turned around and gasped. Her deep blue eyes showed surprise. She quickly ran to the side of the bed.

"You woke up!" she said cheerfully.

The boy flinched back as she ran toward him. His red eyes showed confusion. The girl's blue eyes softened once she noticed.

"It's ok. I found you and helped you." She said.

The red eyes showed even more confusion and slight fear.

"...P-Princess...Zelda?" He asked.

The girl smiled and laughed quietly.

"No, I'm nowhere close to royalty or importance." the girl said, her blue eyes standing out in her purple fabric. "My name is Twi. I'm just cosplaying as Zelda for the festival."

"She's as pretty as Zelda, though, isn't she?"

Twi and the boy looked at the door as an older woman walked in.

"Mom..." Twi said.

"Haha, I'm joking! So, young man, what's your name?" Twi's mother said.

"ehh...ummm...it's...Vay..." The boy replied.

"Well, nice to meet you, Vay! Oh! I just remembered! I got something to do really quickly! Twi, be a good hostess and try explaining things to him!" Her mother said before running out.

Once the door shut, there was a moment of silence. Vay stepped onto the floor and faced Twi.

"I should probably get going. I'm needed somewhere." He said.

Twi stepped aside and let the boy pass. Once he got out of the house he glanced around. He ran deeper into the woods like he knew exactly where he needed to go. He ran to a fallen log with a small hole in the middle. He stared down at it then turned around, facing a stump a few yards away. He faced the log again and stared at it.

"So I'm in Minish Woods?" He said to himself. "Hmm..."

He crossed his arms as pain struck through his shoulder. He flinched barely, ignoring the pain.

"Well...I escaped...but how?" He said as he remembered lightning coming from the dark man's fingertips striking his shoulder and back.

"I was going to ask you the same thing." A female voice said behind him.

The prisoner spun around, facing the source of the voice. Twi stood partly hidden by the shadows of the trees. She stepped out of the darkness and looked at him with her blue eyes that knew the truth.

"Y-You!" He said, slightly surprised. "How did...what are you doing here?"

"I was barely able to keep up with you, but I followed you." She said, staring at him. "I know who you are Vaati. I may not have been here last year, but I know enough about you from books and pictures."

Vaati stared at her, ready to take off if he needed to.

"I'm not here to turn anyone to stone or hurt anyone or anything like that. I thought I was being tortured by working for someone and so I grew close to the darkness." He said, doubting that she would listen. "So if you don't believe me, you can go ahead and call for help."

Twi shook her head.

"I believe you 100%. I umm...actually I..." She looked down shyly before continuing. "I want to help you prove yourself."

Vaati stared at her. His thoughts echoed in his head.

She wants to help me? Why? She said she knew a lot about me, so she should know about last time. Who exactly is she?

"I know what it's like to want to start over. That's why I want to help you. And also..." She shyly stared at the ground again. "I kinda had a feeling you'd return."

Vaati blinked his red eyes as he thought through it.

"How exactly could a single girl like yourself possibly help a Wind Mage that will probably be Hyrule enemy #1 if he is discovered?" He asked.

Twi smiled at his words.

"It won't be easy, but it's not impossible. To everyone else you will be known as 'Vay'. You can stay in the guest room at my house. Mom will agree since she likes to have someone to tease."

Vaati stared at her, still thinking. Twi stared softly back at him, waiting for his answer.

"Are you sure you can help?' Vaati asked as she nodded. "Fine. I'll accept your help."

Twi smiled happily at him.

"Thank you! I know I can help!" She said.

Vaati nodded.

"Your name is..." Vaati paused to think. "Twi, correct?"

Twi laughed slightly.

"Yes. And you are 'Vaati' when we are alone. 'Vay' when we are around my mom or other people."

Vaati looked at her in confusement.

"You wont tell your mother about me?" He asked.

"No...I'm not sure if that's a good idea..." She said. "Which reminds me, we should get back home before mom comes home and freaks out."

She grabbed Vaati's wrist on his good arm and ran toward home. Once she got within sight of it and noticed that her mother was not home, she stopped and glanced around before turning toward Vaati.

"Hey, I've been meaning to ask this but...What happened to your shoulder and back? It looked like a painful wound yesterday."

Vaati glanced down at his shoulder and sighed before replying.

"It was punishment for trying to come back to Hyrule."

He tried to tell little truth until he could fully trust Twi. Most of it was true.

"Oh...If it hurts as bad as it looks, then just tell my mom." Twi said with slight concern in her voice. "She's a nurse in Hyrule."

Vaati smirked slightly.

"Actually, it's not as bad as I expected it to be."

"Oh, we gave you Red Potion when we found you." Twi said. "I guess it worked."

"That reminds me...where and how did you find me?" He asked. "And...was I wearing a hat?"

"Hmmm...Oh! That's right! Vay, could you say here and tell my mom I'll be back in a few?"

Vaati showed confusion to the random use of 'Vay' instead of 'Vaati' as she ran off. He glanced over and noticed her mother returning home and walked over to her.

"Oh! Vay! Where's Twi?" She said.

"She said she needed to do something really quick." He replied.

"Haha, that's very like her. She probably forgot something in the forest again." She said, smiling at him. "I just hope she doesn't get into any trouble."

Vaati looked at her in confusement.

"What trouble could she get into?" He asked.

"Oh, some monsters have been appearing lately. But it's very rare."

Vaati's expression changed to disbelief.

"W-Wait a second! When Li-ummm...that one guy who saved Hyrule...when he slayed the Wind Mage, wasn't the monsters supposed to vanish?"

"Yes, and for a long time they did. But it's only a few monsters every week. They're hopeless without an evil figure to assist." She smiled gently at Vaati. "No need to worry Vay."

Vaati glanced at the path Twi took and sighed before turning back to her mother.

"I'm going to go see what's taking her." He said, running down the path before her mother could protest.

Once he was out of view, he stopped running and slowed his pace. He glanced around while walking, but he was too deep in thought to actually notice if anything was odd.

_The monsters that were supposed to be locked away are returning?_ He thought, _How can this happen?_

Twi walked through Minish Woods and stopped in the middle of the path.

"I could've sworn he was wearing it..." She mumbled to herself.

"Hey!" An unfamiliar male voice said.

Twi turned around quickly and saw a boy wearing all green.

"You shouldn't be walking around in the middle of the forest. It's not safe." He said as he ran toward her. "And stop sneaking out! Your father's going to get a heart attack one of these days!"

Twi looked at him, confused.

"Umm...excuse me?" She said.

"Huh? Wait...you're not Zelda!" He said. "Sorry, you look a lot like her in that cosply dress. So you're going to the festival too?"

Twi smiled and nodded.

"Yea. It's funny; my friend thought I was Zelda too."

The boy smiled and apologized.

"Have you seen any monsters around here lately? I've been sent to slay them." He said. "I'm Link."

Twi smiled and shook her head.

"No monsters around here. Oh, and have you seen a hat?" Twi asked. "It's my friend's."

Link stared at her and took out a violet hat with a red jewel on it.

"This?"

"Yea! That's it!"

Link paused before replying.

"It looks a lot like the Wind Mage, Vaati's."

Twi nodded.

"It's supposed to. He's cosplaying as the Wind Mage!"

Link handed at back to her. She smiled and looked over, seeing Vaati walking down the path. Vaati seemed to pay no attention to what he was looking at and where he was going.

"Hey, there he is! Hey!" Twi said and Vaati's mind snapped back to reality.

Link glared slightly at Vaati as he looked over at them. Twi ran up to Vaati and smiled.

"Why are you walking around here, anyway?" She asked.

Vaati looked at her then at Link then back at her.

"I umm...came looking for you." He replied.

Link walked up to them and smiled.

"Well it looks like the whole gang's here." Twi said.

Vaati smiled and looked down at her. Link stared closely at Vaati.

"What a good costume, Vaati." He said.

Vaati looked at him.

"Uhhh...my name's Vay." He said. "And thanks. It's for cosplaying."

He tried to keep it 'normal'. As in not being a Mage that can control the Wind and can do all the other things he can do. Link stared at him for a while and nodded.

"Well, I'm Link."

There was a long silence.

"Ummm...The festival's ganna start soon. So I gotta go before Zelda comes looking for me." Link said, excusing himself from the small group.

While walking past Vaati, Link slightly glared at him and continued on. Vaati kept a 'confused' expression to hide his knowing.

"Oh! The festival IS going to start soon!" Twi said.

Vaati continued to watch behind him as if Link were going to turn around and attack. Twi looked at him and her expression softened. She smiled slightly and placed Vaati's hat neatly on his head, which snapped Vaati out of his thoughts.

"By the way...umm...Vay..." She said in case Link was still close by. "...would you please come with me to the festival?"

Vaati stared at her for a moment, securing his hat on. Twi went on.

"I was originally ganna go alone, but since this is my first year, I'm actually kinda nervous...so maybe we could go together? It would help with people liking Vay..."

Twi looked into Vaati's eyes. Her expression was not pleading, but her eyes seemed to beg for her. Vaati smiled slightly and nodded once. Twi smiled at him.

"Well we better hurry!" She said, grabbing his good arm and leading him through.

Her mother smiled as she watched them pass the house.

"We're going to Hyrule Town!" She called to her mother while running. "We'll be back later!"


	3. Chapter 3: Victim

Her mother smiled at them as they disappeared through the trees. Her eyebrows pulled downward, showing a happy yet worried expression that was unseen to Twi and Vaati. Twi led Vaati through the woods a littler farther from the house and slowed down, panting slightly. Vaati looked at her while she slowly caught her breath.

"You ok?"

Twi nodded and finally caught her breath.

"Yea. Sorry about that. I loose my breath easily."

Vaati looked at her and smiled slightly. Twi let go of his arm and turned toward him.

"Well, if I remember correctly, Hyrule Town is quite some ways from here." He said as Twi nodded.

Vaati thought for a while and glanced around, making sure no one was close.

"Hey, you're not afraid of heights, are you?"

Twi stared at him in confusion.

"No, why?"

Vaati smiled and picked her up off the ground. Twi squealed slightly and held on by putting her arms around his shoulders. Vaati's shoulder struck slight pain through the arm that was holding Twi's back up and his back's pain was less. He jumped up and the wind blew them up into the afternoon sky. Twi looked down as they blew up and tightened her hold on Vaati, making sure she would not fall from the sky. Vaati smirked.

"I thought you said you weren't afraid of heights?"

"I'm not! You just startled me!" Twi said in defense. "Usually, people warn you when they decide to fly off."

Twi showed a smile and laughed. She looked down at the Picori Woods' entrance and the path that would lead to Hyrule Town. Vaati looked down for pedestrians and landed in a clear spot close to the path to Hyrule Town. Pain struck through his shoulder even more as he gently placed her on the ground. Twi glanced at his injured shoulder and remained silent. Instead she smiled at him. They continued down the path until they shortly reached the entrance to Hyrule Town.

"Here it is!" Twi said as nervousness settled in her heart. "Let's go, Vaati!"

Vaati's eyes widened as she said his real name.

"Wh-Why are you calling me Vaati? It's Vay, remember?"

Twi smiled at him.

"I know, Vay. But since your cosplaying as Vaati, I thought I might call you that instead. Lots of people do that. It's kinda like roleplaying cosplaying."

"Yo, Princess Zelda! Why you hanging around the bad guy?" A boy dressed as Link said to Twi.

The boy smiled and walked away.

"See?" Twi said.

Vaati smiled at her.

"Alright, Zelda."

They continued on and checked out the stalls. As they looked at the game stalls, Twi looked over at everyone's cosplaying costumes.

"Wow...lots of girls are cosplaying as Princess Zelda..." Twi said, looking at the group of Zeldas.

"But yours is the best." Vaati complemented. "The only one who could be better is Princess Zelda herself!"

Twi smiled and looked back at him.

"Well I know for a fact that you are the best Vaati here, Vaati."

Vaati smiled back at her. The stall manager glanced over and smiled.

"Now, this is a sight I thought I'd never see!" He said as Twi and Vaati both looked at him, confused. "Princess Zelda not with Link?"

Twi smiled at him.

"No, no! I'm not Princess Zelda!" She said, sligthly blushing.

"Hehe, I know. But Zelda and Vaati...that's a couple I have not yet seen! You're even matching colors!"

"Oh, we're just friends!" Twi said, still slightly blushing.

"C'mon, no need to keep your barrier up, Princess! It's the yearly festival!"

A ring of people circled around Twi, Vaati, and the manager. Just then, a girl slightly shorter than Twi with a pink royal dress walked into the circle.

"Wow, your cosplaying is really exact!" She said.

Twi looked at her pink dress and smiled.

"Yours is too!"

The girl giggled at Twi's comment and looked at Vaati. Vaati ignored eye contact, knowing exactly who it was.

"Wow...you do look exactly like Vaati..." She said.

"Heh...thanks..."

He tried to speak very little; he knew that his victim would recognize his voice more than anything.

"Zelda!" Link said, running up to the girl. "Geez, quit running off!"

Zelda smiled at Link innocently.

"I was just talking to myself and Vaati!" She said, laughing afterward.

Twi tried to laugh with her, knowing that she was the REAL Princess Zelda talking to the REAL Hyrule Hero Link. And they were talking to the REAL Evil Wind Mage Vaati. "Evil", or so they thought. Link sighed, slightly annoyed, and then glanced at Twi and Vaati.

"So, what are you two up to?" He said.

Zelda smiled at him.

"Link, aren't they good cosplayers?" She said, facing Twi again. "It's like I'm looking in a mirror!"

Twi smiled back at her, acting completely normal.

"I guess they are. They're like exact replicas." Link said, glancing back at Vaati.

Vaati kept his eyes downward so they would not connect with Link or Zelda's. Zelda might not recognize it as easily as Link could, but it was best to keep low.

"Well, anyways...what was the commotion about earlier?" Zelda asked.

"Umm...Zelda, we should get going if we are going to catch the fighting event." Link said.

"Oh right! You can't be late, Link!" Zelda said. "You two going to watch it too? If you are, then I'll see you there!"

And with that, they ran toward the competition circle. Vaati sighed and took his eyes off the ground.

"I think Link is getting suspicious." He said as Twi nodded.

"I think so too. But he has no proof that...ya know." She said, careful that there might be eavesdroppers in the crowd. "So we're safe for now."

Vaati nodded. They walked away before the manager could tease them again. They sat on a hill near the outskirts of the festival area, looking down at the people.

"Are you sure you still wanna help me? I mean, what if they found out that you were helping an evil Wind Mage?"


	4. Chapter 4: Fallen

Twi stared at him. Vaati didn't look at her, but at the people below them.

"You're not evil, for one."

"Not anymore...but before..."

"And two," Twi said, cutting him off. "I think I'm supposed to help you, so I am. I don't care if they found out cuz I know the truth, and they don't."

Vaati glanced at her.

"What do you mean 'You're supposed to help me'?"

Twi sighed.

"You're ganna think I'm crazy and freakish."

"Well yea, I mean...you're HELPING an evil Wind Mage. Sure you're crazy!" Vaati said before smiling at her.

Geez, I've changed too much in one year, he thought while Twi laughed.

"Well, yea. But..." Her cute princess smile faded. "I've had dreams...but it's nothing."

Vaati stared at her.

Dreams, he thought, about me? Before we met? Before she-or anyone else-knew I was alive?

"But, it doesn't matter. I tend to think differently of stuff."

Twi smiled again and looked over at Vaati.

"Well, anyway, do you wanna see the competition, or go do something else?" She said, obviously trying to change the subject.

Vaati wondered what could've happened in her dream, and if it was really connected with him. He also wondered if Link was getting suspicious enough to alert Zelda or the king about his return, and if he did, how would Twi escape them? But more importantly, he wondered why he cared so much.

"Well, I've only been to the festival once before now, and all I did there was enter the fighting competition and turn a Princess to stone, so I'm not sure what exactly there is to do." Vaati said.

Twi shrugged.

"I've never been to a festival, so I guess were on the same boat." She said.

Vaati smiled and stood up, looking down at the princess cosplayer.

"Well, let's find out." He said, offering to help her up.

Twi smiled and took his hand, standing up as well. Her nervousness hadn't completely gone away. They walked back down the hill and back into the festival. They decided to not go to the competition, due to the fact that Link and Zelda were both attending it. A big shadowy figure looked down at the town below the castle from a hill in the distance. His cape flowed in the breeze.

"I know where you've run to, Wind Mage." He said, glaring at the town. "But you wont be running for long."

He stepped into the shadows and vanished.

Twi and Vaati walked through the crowd of people, mostly cosplayers. In the distance, the sound of fighting came from the competition. Vaati's questions continued popping into his mind. Twi noticed easily and kept a small smile. She also had questions, but knew this wasn't the time or place to be asking them. Multiple people giggled at what they thought was a Zelda+Vaati couple as they passed them. Twi paused while walking. Vaati walked a few steps ahead before realizing it and turned around.

"What's wrong?" He asked, confused.

Twi shook her head.

"Nothing, I thought I heard something. But it's probably just all the people here." She shrugged and continued walking.

She ended up walking ahead of Vaati, who doubted every word she replied to his last question. He looked up at the blue sky, almost forgetting that it wasn't the fake sky he was used to in his prison. But in a way, it almost seemed like it was doomed in darkness like he was.

"Hello? Hyrule to Vaati!" Twi snapped her finger in front of his face.

Vaati quickly regained his senses and smiled in embarrassment.

"Sorry, I must have spaced out. What did you say?"

Twi smiled back, as if not having a fear in the world.

_Maybe she doesn't_. Vaati thought. _She had a lot of guts to even think of trusting me...I wouldn't of even trusted me.__  
_  
"Hey Zelda and Vaati!" A familiar voice called.

Vaati sighed, recognizing the voice completely.

_Of course, Link comes_. He thought. _And Zelda too! This is great.__  
_  
Twi turned around and greeted them, acting normal.

"So what are you doing?" Zelda asked, hyped up from whatever just happened.

Link sighed.

"Zelda, we need to go to the Castle and award the winner of this year's tournament." He said.

"I know! I didn't forget! I'm the princess, I know these things."

"Yea? Then who won?"

"...A swordsman." She smiled cutely at Link. "Hey do you guys want to go?"

Twi thought for a moment, not sure if it was a good idea.

"Well..."

"C'mon, it'll be fun!" Zelda said, taking Twi's arm and dragging her towards the castle.

Link slapped his forehead with the palm of his hand. Vaati smirked.

"The princess is a handful?" He asked.

Link exhaled slowly then smiled slightly. Then he looked at Vaati seriously.

"You have no idea...c'mon, before they get into trouble."

Vaati nodded and followed Zelda and Twi to the castle casually. Link followed behind, unsure if he should believe what he is seeing or not. He studied everything about this new Vay and everything about his appearance screamed "Evil Wind Mage here!" but his changed personality and even a different look in his eyes just said "Regular Cosplayer Here.". Link began to shrug off the possibility that Vaati could still be alive as Zelda pointed out random stalls and dragged the purple Zelda behind her.

The winner of the tournament was a normal, skilled, swordsman. Yet, even after a year, Link kept thinking that the real Vaati would show up and turn everyone to stone or that Vay would start shooting magic from his fingertips or something else evil to happen. But the result was normal. Meanwhile, Vaati kept waiting for Link to pull out his sword and turn on him or that Twi would announce that he was him or that Zelda would reveal it. But again, nothing, as far as they knew.

Meanwhile, a dark shadow looked over at Hyrule from the blue sky. The sun's glare made it impossible to make out what or who it was. A second, smaller shadow appeared behind it, red eyes visible.

In the festival's end, a strange feeling passed by Zelda's heart. Link quickly noticed the princess's quick expression change.

"What's wrong Zelda?"

Vaati and Twi looked over at her.

"...I don't know..." She sighed. "I guess it's just the stress of my thoughts...I keep thinking something bad was going to happen..."

She paused for a moment; anyone could've mistaken her for being deep in thought.

Then she collasped.


	5. Chapter 5: Phantom

Link quickly ran to her side, followed by Twi and Vaati. A soldier quickly realized that his Princess has fallen and ran for someone to help. Other soldiers quickly returned followed by Twi's mother.

"Mom, what are you doing here?" Twi asked.

She quickly kneeled by Zelda.

"You didn't think I'd miss the festival, did you? I just came by the castle to see if you two were there."

She checked the princess's pulse and breath rate, then her forehead, and then turned toward the soilders.

"Well what are you waiting for? We need to take her back to the castle to get her temperature down!" She yelled as if it was basic kindergarten math.

The soldiers carried Zelda to her room, Link, Vaati, Twi, Twi's mother, and the King following close behind. The King and Twi's mother went into Zelda's room while the rest waited outside, Link pacing the halls.

"How could this happen? How could I let this happen?"

Twi sighed.

"C'mon Link, it isn't your fault. Maybe she ate or drank something she was allergic to or maybe she has the 24 hour flu or maybe the ChuChu virus...maybe she's been feeling sick for a while and just didn't say anything."

Link shook his head.

"She's not allergic to anything, she's never had any type of flu, and she's immune to the ChuChu virus! She's the picture of perfect health; it's in the royal princess blood!"

"Well..." Twi started, thinking for a reason to calm Link down. "Maybe it's food poisoning? That happens to everyone."

Link sighed.

"...Maybe...maybe not...are you sure your mom's a nurse?"

"Well, I'm pretty sure; I mean it's so hard to figure out what my mom does with her life nowadays." Twi said sarcastically.

Vaati smirked before speaking up.

"Link, don't you think you're freaking out a little too much? You said the princess was the picture of health, so she should be fine. Maybe she didn't eat enough or maybe it was food poisoning...pacing the halls isn't going to help much."

Link sighed again.

"...I guess you're right...but...I can't shake this feeling that I had last year during the incident...the feeling that she was in trouble and I had to do anything and everything to help her." He looked at Zelda's door. "But she is my best friend, my childhood friend...I don't want to loose her even if she does have a hyper problem."

Twi nodded slowly, as if she understood Link's thoughts, heart, and pain.

"My mom is a good nurse. Everything will be back to normal soon enough."

As if on cue, the door opened. Twi's mother walked out.

"She hasn't woken up yet, but the color returned to her face and her temperature just went back to normal. Like nothing happened. I'd say it was the rare DekuFlu, but that would be unnatural. Either way, she's fine and she will wake up tomorrow at the most, midnight at the least."

"Thanks." Link said, now calmed.

"Twi, I'll be home. Be home by dark." She said before walking off.

Twi and Vaati stayed with Link until near dark. Everyone in Hyrule was fully confident that it was a minor event and everything would be normal except for Link, Twi, and Vaati. Twi easily convinced her mother that Vay had nowhere to go and that he didn't remember where he came from and that he could stay with them until he does. The night came in silence. In Hyrule Castle, the soilders paced through the halls on guard. Zelda layed peacefully, undisturbed. Morning soon came, and Link quickly ran to Hyrule Castle to check if Zelda was awake, running into his old enemy on the way. Literally.

"Ow...geez Link..." Vaati said, rubbing his head where his skull collided with Link's. His hat was barely on his head.

Link also rubbed his head. "Sorry, Vaati...or Vay..."

Twi ran over to them, no longer in a cosplay dress but in a more casual blue Hylian outfit that almost matched her eyes.

"Are you two ok?"

"Yea, Yea, How's Zelda?" Link asked, standing up.

"She woke up this morning like mom said she would. She's checking on her now."

Vaati stood up, putting his hat neatly back on. Link noticed that he was still in his "cosplay outfit" but he ignored the fact to focus on Zelda's recovery. Twi's mother walked out of Zelda's room.

"Umm...the princess wants to see you three."

Vaati's heart dropped.

Why me? Did she figure it out?

Twi simply nodded with the same thoughts as Vaati. Link glanced over at them, also confused. They all walked into Zelda's room.

"Are you ok, Zelda?" Link asked as soon as he set foot in the room.

Zelda smiled like nothing happened.

"I'm fine...but..." She looked out her window at the darkened clouds that were moving towards the castle. "Hyrule isn't."

"What?" Vaati said as Zelda looked back at her friends.

"I don't know what, who, where, or when but something evil is here."

"How do you know?" Twi asked.

"Last night...I had a dream...of a dark figure. He looked quite familiar. And I feel that he is in Hyrule."

Link glanced at Vaati.

"Is it the Wind Mage?" He asked. "Is it Vaati?"

Vaati's heart rate sped up the moment he heard the question. Zelda shook her head.

"I don't know...maybe. But it didn't have a wind sense about it...it was more...it was different."

"But it could be?" Link asked.

"Maybe..."

Link sighed in frustration. Thunder rolled loudly. Zelda sighed and walked up to them.

"Would you mind coming with me outside? I need some quick fresh air...before it storms.."

Link nodded and went with Zelda while Twi and Vaati walked to Zelda's nurse.

"So everything is ok with her?" Twi asked her mom.

"Yea, perfectly fine." Her mother replied. "But you should keep a good eye on her just in case."

They nodded. Suddenly, a loud crack was heard from outside followed by thunder and wind. Twi and Vaati quickly left her mother behind, confused, and ran outside.

The wind violently threw loose objects around, making it hard for Link to keep his sword straight. He struggled to keep it pointed at the shadowed figure, keeping Zelda behind him. Vaati held onto his hat as he ran outside with Twi following. He glared at the shadowy figure.

_He found me_. He thought. _Damn it._

The shadow raised his hand, his palm facing the sky and the wind picked up violently at his command. Twi quickly held onto the side of the castle to stay on the ground, her hair whipped around, smacking her in the face. Without hesitation, Vaati also raised his hand with his palm towards the sky, and the wind changed direction. It seemed to all blow in his direction, and a ball of magic formed in his hand. He shot the magic ball at the shadow, direct hit. The shadow quickly ceased Vaati by the neck. The wind freely moved like in a normal storm, and Link finally regained full control over his blade. He glared at Vaati and the shadow, not sure which one to attack first. Zelda grabbed his shoulder.

"Link, I think Vaati is against him!"

"What?"

"Think about it, they're fighting each other!" She yelled over the storm.

Link sighed and nodded before charging at the shadow, his sword ready to kill. He ran close enough to the shadow and swung, his blade slicing right through. But instead of fading or showing any signs of weakness, the shadow just stood there, a clear cut through it's side but with no blood. It looked down at Link in almost a glare. Vaati continued struggling helplessly then opened his red eyes at the shadow, his recognizable glare from last year returning to his face. He held out his palm close to the shadow's face and a white electric-like blub formed and shot at the shadow.

"Ugh!" The shadow yelled before throwing Vaati across the field and into the bushes of the garden.

Link swung again in the shadow's time of weakness, but the monster swiftly moved aside, avoiding the blade.

"Do not meddle in personal business, young boy." The shadow said in a low voice.

"Who are you?" Twi yelled, glaring at the monster that ignored her completely.

Link swung one more time, but the shadow smacked the sword away and punched Link in the gut, sending him down and his sword away from him. Link held his gut and glared up at the unknown darkness that held his fist back as a purple fire-like darkness formed around it, ready to be released. Suddenly, Vaati jumped up from behind the stranger and landed between him and Link then swung another electric bulb at him, weakening him again. The shadow, obviously ticked off, smacked Vaati to the side in it's moments of fading into darkness. Once it was gone, the storm ceased almost at the same moment. Twi ran to Vaati and Zelda to Link.

"Link are you ok?" Zelda asked.

"Y-yea..." he said, his gut throbbing. He looked over at Vaati who was sitting up, Twi by his side. "...You ok, Vaati?"

Vaati nodded, trying to show no signs of pain. He waited for an attack of some kind. Link did the same.

"...alright," Link finally said, not able to wonder for another moment. "Why are you here again, Vaati? And who was that...thing?"

"What makes you think I'd know who that thing was?" Vaati asked.

"Well, the fact you seemed to know what his main weakness was and that he said he had 'personal business' with you seems to make me think you at least are familiar with him! Now why are you here?"

Vaati sighed. He knew he wasn't going to be able to hold it back for long, but he thought he would be able to last longer than a few days.

"Ugh, never mind. Why should I believe anything you say? Why should I not just kill you here?" Link said, glaring.

Vaati stood up in silence.

"I don't know...I honestly don't know."

He walked away from them, Twi followed close behind him.

"Vaati, why don't we just explain it to them? Maybe they-"

"No." Vaati said, cutting Twi's sentence off. "Nothing is going to change anyway...besides, I do have some business to straighten out."

"What?"

Vaati ran ahead then up, separating himself from the one person who trusted him. The one person who helped him. The one person he could even think to call his "friend". Twi looked up as he disappeared from sight.

Vaati didn't look back, he just kept moving forward. But in his mind, he was stuck to the past. He cursed even touching the red hat his master made, his plans, his thoughts, and he cursed even thinking he could return and everything be fine. His body still ached from the fight with his "old friend" and the pain from the lightning from the same "friend" hadn't completely worn off yet either. Link walked over and picked up the sword he dropped and looked over at Twi, who just started to walk home.

"Didn't you know he was the Wind Mage?" He asked.

Twi looked back at him with sad eyes.

"Yes. I did. And I trust him."

She continued walking home. Link staring as she vanished. Zelda looked over at Link.

"Link..."

Link sighed and also walked home.

"You might want to warn your father about Vaati and that thing."


	6. Chapter 6: News to Zelda

[Author's Note 12/12/10: I edited just one conversation in this chapter because I forgot to include a detail on Twi that I ment to include earlier. Sorry for that. Enjoy.]

"Hello, Vaati." A tall shadow greeted as the Wind Mage walked toward him.

"What can I do to make you not try to destroy Hyrule again?" He asked. The shadow laughed.

"There is nothing...I will not rest until I am satisfied..."

"You've been trying for a while now..."

"Shut up! This time I will not fail...I have a brilliant plan...it involves that girl of yours..." The shadow said, looking directly at Vaati.

"What do you want with her?"

The shadow laughed.

"It's your weakness, I see..."

Vaati glared at him.

"Stay away from Hyrule. Link will defend his kingdom if I can't."

And with that, Vaati dissolved into air. The shadow chuckled at his parting words.

"I won't set a foot in that kingdom, you have my word."

Night seemed to take forever to fall. Link laid in his bed, staring at the ceiling, trying to make sense of things.

Could it be possible that Vaati could abandon his evil side? How could that girl, Twi, say that she trust him? Who was that shadow figure that oddly looked familiar?

He sighed in frustration, unable to figure anything out. He turned to his side and fell asleep. Outside, an evil was rising.

"Twi? Where's Vay?"

Twi's eyes saddened when her mother asked.

"Umm...home." She said, hoping it was believable.

"Home? What does that mean?"

"Umm...like...he...went to his home."

"Oh..." Her mother said eyes also sad. "Well, that's too bad, you really liked him."

Twi smiled then glared at her mom, glad her spirits could be raised by her mother's strange humor. Suddenly, there was a gust of wind outside. Twi and her mom both looked at the window.

"Now what was that all about?" Her mom asked.

Twi quickly ran outside, stopping a few feet away from her house, heartbeat racing.

Her eyes saddened again, heartbeat dead. Her head tilted down in disappointment. Nothing. Her blue eyes matched the cold midnight sky.

"Umm..."

Twi's eyes lit up as she turned around, facing the source of the sound. Her wanted friend stood where she just ran from, hovering a few inches off the ground. His red eyes seemed to glow. There was a moment of silence.

"...I...umm..."

"VAATI!" Twi exclaimed, hugging her old friend, pulling him down onto the earth so he wasn't floating.

Vaati smirked a bit.

"What? You didn't think I'd just fly off forever, did you?"

"I dunno...kinda." Twi admitted separating the hug.

"Well look who's here! Vay!"

Twi and Vaati turned to her mother.

"I thought Twi said you were home...?"

"Umm...well..."

"Come on inside! No use catching a cold." Her mother said, happy for Vaati's return.

The two friends walked inside, followed by her mother.

"So what's your story, Vay?" She asked, curious.

"Umm...well...Twi was right when she said I went home...but..."

"Oh yea, I thought you didn't remember your way home."

"Correct...I only remembered my first house before we moved after the fire. I just assumed."

_Good story,_ Twi thought.

Twi's mother hugged Vaati then dragged her daughter into the hug.

"Well you're still welcome to stay here. Until you find your home, this can be it."

"Mom...choking...life..." Twi managed to say, her throat getting crushed by her mom's biceps.

"Oh, sorry honey." She said before releasing the hug. "Well it is getting dark, we should all turn in for the night!"

Twi and Vaati both nodded then smiled at each other. Twi walked upstairs into her room, happy that her friend wasn't gone. But she couldn't help but wonder what really happened.

_...Vaati's hair and skin tone seems a bit...darker,_ she thought, _maybe it's just my imagination.__  
__  
_In the night, a shadowed figure stood.

"Are you sure we should go to Hyrule Castle?" Twi asked, walking beside Vaati.

"Yes. I must give news to Zelda." Vaati said, his purple hair flowing behind him.

"But..what about Link?"

"I'm going to do my best to avoid a fight with him by avoiding him altogether."

"...Alright.."

"...umm just out of curiosity, why are you wearing that dress?" Vaati asked, looking down at the purple cosplay dress that Twi wore for the festival, but unlike before, she wasn't wearing the golden crown, purple gloves, and purple hairclips.

"Oh, mom wanted me to wear it again, she's really proud of how it turned out." Twi said, looking down in embarrassment. "But I didn't feel like wearing the whole thing. I just hope she doesn't want me to wear it tomorrow too, I don't really like dresses that much…"

They soon stood in front of the famous Hyrule Castle. Clouds shrouded the sky above it. Twi and Vaati glanced at each other and nodded before walking in. The soldiers seemed to not have a clue that Vaati was in the hallways, they just walked on.

"I wonder why they aren't attacking." Twi whispered.

"Maybe Princess Zelda didn't tell them?" Vaati guessed, shrugging.

"You." A voice said behind them.

"Or maybe not."

They turned around, facing Link.

"Great."

"What are you doing back here?" Link asked his arms crossed.

"I'm here to deliver important news to Zelda that might determine Hyrule's future, if that's alright with you."

"I'm not sure if it is."

"Guys." Twi said, butting in. "C'mon, this is important."

They both fell silent.

"...Fine. I'm not happy about it, but Zelda requested that if 'Vay' showed up, then to let him on." Link said, somewhat pouty. "But she's still kind of sick, just so you know."

"...well then...we'll be on our way then...but Link, watch out for a possible monster. He could show up in any form at any time."

Link nodded and let Vaati and Twi on, looking back at the entrance, waiting.

Vaati and Twi slowly reached the Princess's room. Twi looked at Vaati, wondering why she thought his hair and skin were darker, noticing that his eyes seemed to be a different shade also. The somewhat darker Vaati reached and knocked on Zelda's door.

"Princess Zelda, I must speak to you."


	7. Chapter 7: Battle in the Sky

"Link, I must speak to Princess Zelda at once."

Link turned around, facing the one who was requesting Zelda.

"...Vaati?" He asked, confused.

Vaati nodded with a serious look in his eyes.

"Actually I must speak to you both. It's serious."

Link tilted his head.

"Yea, I know. It's about Hyrule's future or something like that." He said, wondering why Vaati came back to the hallways when he was just going to see Zelda. "You already told me that."

Vaati's serious expression changed to confused.

"What?"

"You and Twi came in through here and you requested to talk with Zelda about Hyrule's possible future...although, you seemed kinda different then...are you sick like Zelda?"

Vaati remained confused.

"You're saying that you saw me and Twi walk through here earlier?" He asked as Link nodded. "What are you talking about? That's not possible...unless..."

Vaati's expression suddenly changed to alarm.

"Twi and Zelda are in trouble!"

Twi and Vaati walked into Zelda's room, Zelda stood beside the window, looking out at her kingdom.

"Princess Zelda, I have bad news for Hyrule."

Zelda sighed and turned around, facing her friends.

"I understand that Hyrule is destined to be in bad shape soon..." She said in sadness.

"...Correct, Princess. An evil is rising to take revenge on Hyrule."

Zelda nodded.

"But who is this shadow?" She asked.

"...So you don't know my King, huh?"

Zelda and Twi both faced Vaati, confused.

"King?" Twi asked, "What King? Vaati you're not..."

Link and Vaati burst through the door of Zelda's room, startling both Twi and Zelda. The lighter toned Vaati glared at the darker toned Vaati.

"You."

The dark Vaati smiled with a glare as he recognized the regular Vaati. Quickly, he grabbed a hold of Twi, making sure she could not escape.

"Wh-What's going on?" Twi asked aloud. "Who are you?"

"...Dark Vaati." The normal Vaati said, continuing his glare.

"Hehehehe..." Dark Vaati laughed, matching Vaati's own laugh. "Correct. But it took you long enough to figure me out. Light creatures aren't so bright, ironically."

"Let her go. She has nothing to do with this."

"But that wouldn't be much fun, now would it? To just let someone go. We made that mistake last year, letting little Link go, even though he didn't seem to have anything to do with anything. Why should I just let her go? Many things could go wrong."

"Let. Her. Go." Vaati said again, his hatred building.

"Or what?" Dark Vaati taunted, showing an evil smirk that was once Vaati's.

Dark Vaati suddenly felt a cold blade on his neck. He looked back at the holder.

"Ah, Link. Long time no see?"

"Let her go, or you loose your head." Link said, his blue eyes glaring.

Dark Vaati smirked and dropped one of his arms, but keeping a hold on Twi with his other arm.

"It _has_ been a while. You've forgotten that I have many tricks up my sleeves." On cue, he quickly lifted a blade that seemingly came from the darkness to Twi's neck. His smirk widened, showing his teeth and revealing one slightly longer pointed tooth. "Do you really want to keep your sword to me now?"

Link glared and slowly took his sword away from Dark Vaati's neck.

"What do you want with her, anyway?" Zelda asked, also glaring.

"Hmph. As I said before, Light creatures just aren't that bright." Dark Vaati said, shaking his head disappointedly. "But fine. I'll give you a chance to get the girl back." The blade he held vanished into the darkness from where it came.

"What's the catch?" Vaati asked, keeping his glare.

"How rude." Dark Vaati said as he took one hand off of Twi, using it to snap his fingers. As the sound of the snap ended, he and Twi faded into pixilated darkness then reappeared outside of Zelda's window. "Speaking of 'catches' Catch me if you can."

With that, Dark Vaati soared through the sky, Twi held captive.

"Damn it!" Link mumbled before running for the door, he turned to check to see if Vaati was following, but instead he jumped out Zelda's window and flew after Dark Vaati. Link stood staring at the empty window for a few moments before Zelda snapped him back to Hyrule by dragging him out the door to help.

Vaati sent a purple ball of energy at his dark self who swiftly avoided the attack. Twi looked over Dark Vaati's shoulder, watching Vaati come after. Link and Zelda could only see small dark dots flying across the field in the direction of Minish Woods when they reached outside. Link led the princess through the town and toward the two Vaati's who stopped in flight above Lon Lon Ranch. The cows ignored the battle in the sky and focused on eating.

"I'll tell you once more, let Twi go." Vaati said, glaring at his Dark self.

"And let you win? That was not my orders."

Vaati put both hands together on his left side. Once he swung one his arms toward his enemy, another purple energy ball was thrown at Dark Vaati, who again dodged the attack and flew off past Vaati and toward Minish Woods, Vaati following behind. Link and Zelda arrived at Lon Lon Ranch as soon as the Vaati's flew off. A girl with red hair looked at them curiously, in the middle of brushing a horse. Link looked over at the girl and ran up to her, pulling Zelda along.

"We need to borrow your horse."

Vaati and Dark Vaati were soon above Minish Woods, battling in the sky. Vaati threw most of the attacks, his dark self kept avoiding. Finally, in all of the frustration and hatred he had felt within the few minutes, Vaati threw one final ball of energy; electricity seemed to be forming around it. It exploded on impact, sending smoke into the air. Vaati quickly flew into the cloud of smoke, his control of wind blowing it away in front of him.

Nothing. He stood in the air, his visible red eye showed confusion.

_What's going on?_ He thought, _Where's Twi and-__  
_  
Suddenly, he felt sharp pain flow through his back and to the rest of his body, like the lightning that struck him down when he was running from his fellow prisoners in the dark world. Slowly, the wind that held him up weakened, and he fell into Minish Woods below. His Dark self stood in the air right behind where Vaati stood, smirking in a glare as he watched himself fall. Twi lay unconscious in his arms from the impact of Vaati's last attack.

"...I win." He said before fading into darkness, his words seemed to echo.

Link watched as Vaati fell into the woods. He quickly kicked the horse to make her run, Zelda held on to Link as they ran off to help their fallen past enemy. Twilight fell as they searched, and no sign of Vaati appeared.

"Link we should go..." Zelda said softly, sitting on the borrowed horse as Link searched on foot.

"And just leave Vaati here? He's the only one who knows what's going on." Link said, checking in a bush.

"It's getting late, Link. And we still have to return Epona."

Link remained silent for a while before joining Zelda on Epona. He hated not being able to help someone, even if he was evil at one point. They rode off towards Lon Lon Ranch to return the horse they borrowed and also tell a mother of her daughter's disappearance due to a familiar boy.


	8. Chapter 8: Promise

She watched out the window into part darkness and part Hell. The lands she was taken to where filled with unfamiliar souls. Some were visible, some were barely visible like ghosts, and some took the appearance of demons and monsters. She hated seeing this, people chained to walls and the ground and even each other. Some wore sad expressions, some smirked. She looked up at the fake sky in an almost determined glare with her blue eyes. She didn't know where she was, she only woke up in a somewhat large room, the walls and ceiling a gray tone, one of the walls was almost a built-in balcony. The balcony was open windows to the sad world, she clenched her hand into a fist. Most girls would think of this room to be their "princess room" where the dragon or sorcerer would hold them until their knight in shining armor came. But to her, a girl who lived in reality, this was torture.

"Great scenery, huh?" A voice said behind her.

Her kidnapper that wore the same face as her friend appeared in, his red eyes seemed to glow in the shadows of the room. Twi turned around and glared at him.

"I hate it."

Dark Vaati's head tilted a bit, his red eyes almost puppy-like.

"Really? Well that's going to be a problem since you're stuck here."

"Yea, and with you of all people. Just my luck, I get stuck with you."

"Ouch. That's a little mean, don't you think?"

"It's the truth."

Dark Vaati sighed then leaned up against the stone wall, crossing his arms in front of him and staring at her with familiar ruby eyes. Twi turned around back to the window, staring at the unworldly sky, wondering what became of her friends after she lost consciousness.

"Wake up!"

A purple-ish body laid deep in Minish Woods, red eyes closed as few leaves floated down over him.

"Wake up!"

He moaned slightly, moving his head to the side, revealing his second closed eye and causing a leaf on his almost sickly purple skin to fall.

"DAMMIT VAATI, WAKE UP!"

Vaati's red eyes opened suddenly and he bolted up into a sitting position. He yelled and grabbed his side when the pain in his back came to. Once it settled in, he looked around his surroundings.

Trees, Grass...there's no one here?

He slowly stood up, confused to whether he was imagining that voice or not. It seemed so familiar... But he pushed that thought to the side for now. What he was mainly wondering is what happened. He thought for a moment while flashbacks suddenly rushed to him. Zelda, Link, a dark version of himself, and a blonde girl with blue eyes.

Twi...where is she now? ...or...does she even exist? Did I just dream all of that?

He shook his head and glared at the sky.

No, she does exist. I know she does.

The wind helped him slowly float up to a standing position as he tried to avoid the pain that had returned to him. Even then, the pain seemed unbearable. He was forced to stop moving once he was actually standing. He knew he wouldn't make it out of Minish Woods if he tried, everything he did ended up hurting him. He clenched his hand, probably the only thing he could do without pain. He closed his ruby eyes and tried to make up a plan.

"Hey Vaati are you here?" a familiar voice called.

Vaati opened his eyes when he heard his name being called, and a familiar boy dressed in green walked into the clearing.

"Vaati!" Link exclaimed. "Geez, I've been looking everywhere for you!"

Vaati stepped sideways, Link faced the left side of him, the wind mage's eyes were closed as his head tilted downward, one eye hidden by purple hair. The sunlight gleamed off of his hat, making the ruby near his forehead shine. Link tilted his head.

"Hey, Vaati...Are...you ok?" He asked.

"What happened to Twi and my Dark self?" He asked, keeping his pose, not moving so he wouldn't trigger his pain again.

Link sighed sadly; he mainly focused on finding Vaati so that he would know what exactly has happened in the world. He hated knowing that he could do nothing to help a soul in need.

"Dark Vaati took her after you fell. I don't know where...he just vanished." He said sadly before reaching into his bag of items and fetching out a bottle of liquid. "Here. I'm sure you're in pain from Dark Vaati's last attack, so drink this. I'm not sure if it'll heal all of the pain, but at least you can get out of here."

Vaati smirked at Link.

"Heh, Same hero type I see. Thanks."

Vaati thought to himself as they walked toward the exit of Minish Woods.

What was that voice earlier? It wasn't Link's, not at all. Then who? It had to have been someone who knows who I am and the voice seemed kind of concerned. But no one but Link was around that I know of...and who would be concerned for me?

He pushed that thought away as they passed the house that let him meet the people who helped him. A woman sat in front of the house, spotting Vaati and Link and ran to them. The mother of the lost Twi stopped in front of them, Vaati's heart sank as he prepared for a lashing.

"THANK THE GODDESSES YOU'RE ALIVE, VAATI!" She yelled, hugging the confused purple ex-villain before looking into his eyes.

"...That's it?" Vaati asked, slightly scared. "No 'How dare you return you evil villain of dark winds!' or 'I will turn you in for everything that you've done!'?"

Twi's mother laughed and pat his head.

"Did you really think I was that gullible?" She asked. "Sure, I didn't know your identity at first, but I'm smart. Besides, I know my daughter, and she doesn't open up to many people."

Vaati smiled, he liked knowing that not everyone hated him and not everyone was out to get him. And it was because of her. Vaati looked down then over at Link.

"You want answers, right?" He asked and Link nodded. The woman let go of Vaati. "Then I must also speak with Zelda. It concerns her and you."

"You two are going back to Hyrule Castle?" Twi's mother asked. "Then here, you're probably still in pain from what I heard."

She held out a bottle of potion to Vaati, her green eyes in worry with a smile on her face. Vaati stared up at her with red eyes.

"There's still some things I don't understand." He said. "Like why you are not mad at me for what happened to your daughter."

"Link and Princess Zelda told me that you actually were the one trying to get her back. How can I be mad at that?" She said, smiling bigger.

"Right..." Vaati said, looking down. "And I won't stop. I will find her and return her to you."

Link stared at Vaati as if he were completely insane. Vaati looked over at Link, knowing what he was thinking.

"Link...even if you don't trust me now, you have to believe my words that I will give you and Zelda." He said, taking the potion Twi's mother gave him. "Come to the Castle if you want to know what's happened."

And with those words, the wind mage rose off the ground and into the sky, his red eyes looked forward in determination to return the girl who didn't fear him to the Light, and to take revenge on his dark self. He landed on top of the Castle's roof, the wind blowing through his purple cape, one of his ruby eyes hidden by his purple bangs, an ex-villain with a mission. A year had passed and gone since he was slayed, and now he was using the same power he used then. He tried thinking of how he would find Twi, or even how he would find out where she was taken. Returning to the darkness wouldn't be easy; he had the Big Guy to get past again and now his Dark self. He sat down on the roof, the wind blowing through his hair and cape.

"...Master would know how to do it." He said to himself, as if talking to the wind itself. "...But he's gone now. I can't wait 99 years. I just had to pick up this stupid hat."

He took the hat off his head and stared into the jewel before angrily tossing it behind him, expecting the wind to blow it away. The winds stopped and the hat dropped right behind him. Vaati turned around and stared at the red jewel that matched his own eyes. He smirked and closed his eyes, one hidden by hair.

"I may have controlled the winds last year, but now they seem to be controlling me." He said as he picked up his hat and held it in his hands as the wind blew again. He placed it on his head and stood. "I can't fall apart now. I don't think the wind will let me fail before I begin. I have to get her back; I made a promise to her mother to do so. I won't betray her like I did to Master."

As he spoke his promise to the winds, he made a promise to that promise to keep that promise. The wind blew through his hair and cape beautifully, just as it had once been. But this time, he was against the darkness that took Twi away.


	9. Chapter 9: Answers

Link rushed to the Castle to hear the news from Vaati, he felt the wind become more and more familiar as he got closer. His blue eyes soon saw the Castle approach as he ran. He ran past the guards and into the Castle and towards the Princess's room chamber. He slowed down to a walk in front of her door, panting and pushing his weight on the wall from the sprint. The guard walked up to the hero and smiled.

"We told you now to sprint all the way up here, Link. The stairs are plentiful. Here to see the princess?" He asked as Link nodded, unable to speak from the run. "Well, you should know that since she collapsed, she hasn't been feeling well at all."

Link looked up in alarm as the guard laughed from Link's expression.

"No need to worry, Link. She's a Princess from the royal Hylian bloodline, health is her strength." He said as he walked past Link and around the corner. Link stared at the doors that held the Princess of Hyrule as he panted for breath.

"That's not good." A voice said behind him. Link turned around as Vaati jumped from the window into the hallway. He looked at Link with serious eyes. Link glared at him slightly before looking back at the door and finally catching his breath.

"Don't forget that you have something to tell me and Zelda."

"That's why I am risking getting killed by a guard and coming here."

Link nodded and walked into Zelda's room, followed by Vaati. Zelda turned around from the window and smiled at them.

"Link, you found Vaati." She said, smiling. "That's good. I was worried about what happened to him, but know I see that he's fine."

Vaati sighed and looked down. "Worrying about me shouldn't be in your concern. Hyrule should. A darkness is rising."

"Yes, I know. I can feel it. And your shadow's appearance worries me also."

"My Dark Self isn't even the start of it." Vaati said, looking back at Zelda.

"Then what's the rest of it?" Link asked.

"A darkness that lives in the Shadow Realm. That's the rest of it. It seeks to come to the Light and take it. It has become the biggest Evil Hyrule's known."

"Who's this 'darkness'?" Link asked.

"He goes by a lot of names. While I was trapped in the Shadow Realm, I have grown to know him as the strongest shadow in that realm. Some called him the 'King', others called him 'Ringleader'. But most of the prisoners I knew called him 'The Big Guy'."

"Does he have an actual name?" Zelda asked.

"Yea, but no one there dared called him by his real name, so I don't know." Vaati said, shrugging. "But, now, I have a question for you, Zelda." He said as Zelda looked at him with bright blue eyes. "Your health. It's dropping, isn't it?"

Zelda nodded sadly as Link looked at Vaati questionably.

"I didn't think of it when you collapsed, but know that I've thought over it, it makes sense."

"What makes sense?" Link asked.

"How I made it back to the light world...I didn't figure it out until recently." Vaati said as Link stared at him.

"Care to share with the rest of the class?" Link asked. "Because I have no idea."

"The Light Force. It's the power that keeps the darkness sent to the Shadow Realm in the Shadow Realm. It's the key to the Shadow's Gates, without it, no one can pass it unless they can match the door's strength and bust through."

"...yea, so?"

"Don't you remember last year?" Vaati asked, looking at Link. "When you and Master finished the sword, you found where the Light Force was."

Link's eyes lit up as the memory returned. "Oh right. The Light Force is passed through the princesses of Hyrule's royal bloodline."

Vaati nodded and turned to Zelda. "That would be Princess Zelda. She is the Light Force of this time. And she has fallen sick. Which means that the Light Force weakens as she does."

"So...my sickness freed you?" Zelda asked.

"Yes. It makes sense that the Light Force's weakened state allowed me to return to the light, when The Big Guy couldn't. And in the state it's in now, it has allowed a few monsters to also pass through, along with my Dark Self. I believe that The Big Guy sent him to take revenge on my succession of returning, since you haven't yet weakened enough to let him through."

"Wait," Link said, looking at Vaati. "What about that one day when that monster came and attacked us? He said he had some 'business'."

"That would be The Big Guy's mere Phantom. He probably created that and sent it here to get me back, but figured out that there was a hero here and decided to just send my Dark self to take away the one he thought I was 'close' to or something...But i don't get why he didn't try to take Zelda as well, or just her instead. The Princess's disappearance is a little more dramatic than a regular girl new to Hyrule." Vaati said. "But that's all I know."

"So..." Link began. "You're...really going after Twi and your Dark Self?"

Vaati stared at the ground, his hair blocking his face in darkness. He walked towards the window and jumped out, the wind holding him in the sky beside the window, defying gravity.

"Yes," He said, looking back at his once enemy and victim. "I am. I have to."

With those parting words, he vanished into the sky. Link ran up to the window.

"Vaati, wait!" He called, but his reaction was too late. Vaati was off on his own adventure to get back what was taken. He thought of ways to figure out how to do so as he flew, the only thing he knew is that his former master would know what he wanted to know. Link sprinted through and out of the Castle after the ex-villain.

Dammit Vaati, He thought as he ran, Quit leaving me behind! This is my home, and I will defend it from any evil, I can't let you do that for me.

The hero stopped and caught his breath; he had a bad habit of sprinting everywhere and nearly passing out. At least when his partner was there he'd bite Link's ear when he started to sprint. He rubbed his ear just thinking about it. He grabbed his green hat and looked at it in his hands. It was almost identical to what his partner Ezlo looked like. Those were the days. Link sighed and placed his hat back on his head. When the next 99 years come, Ezlo will be free to come to Hyrule again. In 99 years...how different will things be?  
Link looked back at the castle, the last place he saw his friend, the last place Vaati was seen before now. His first adventure that made him a hero. He continued walking the direction Vaati flew, not daring to run unless he wanted to pass out. Meanwhile, Vaati sat on a stump in Minish Woods, not knowing where to start. He racked his brain for ideas, but he just didn't know how to get in the Shadow Realm. Last time all it took was a swing from Link's sword, but he didn't know what the outcome would be. Instead of going to darkness, he might just simply die or just end up chained and powerless against a wall, and he didn't want that. He had to save her as repayment for saving him, to prove that he has a heart unlike last year. He closed his eyes in thought, trying to come up with something. The wind blew gently towards him, brushing through a few strands of his hair.

"...the graves..."

Vaati opened his eyes and glanced around. No one.

"Great. Now I'm going crazy." He mumbled.

"Graves!" The wind blew again. "Not Crazy!"

Vaati glanced around again. No one. He was getting confused.

"H-Hello? Is someone there?" Vaati asked, nothing in reply. He thought for a moment.

The graves? What grave? He thought to himself.

"The graveyard close to Hyrule Town?" He asked. No reply again. "I'll take that as a yes..."

He stood up and looked up at the sky. It was the same voice that woke him up earlier after his fight with Dark Vaati to get Twi back. The failed attempt to get her back. The voice seemed so familiar in a strange way, like a memory. He shook his head.

_As long as it's helping me_, he thought, _I won't worry._

The wind around him slowly picked up and circled around him, lifting him off the ground and into the sky once again. He turned to the direction of the graveyard that was said to hold the spirit of a deceased King of Hyrule. He stood in the air, facing that direction for a moment before flying forward above Hyrule. Link watched as Vaati flew overhead. He sighed and followed in the direction that Vaati ran, hanging his head down. How much he wished he could fly too. He used to have a Wind Ocarina-type instrument, but after he saved Hyrule and helped repair it he gave it back to the people who live on the clouds. He continued onward as he cursed in his head.


	10. Chapter 10: Hidden Rarity

He flew over Trilby Highlands and towards the north, purple cape blowing in the wind and his hair flowing with it. He had no idea of what would await him in the graveyards that an unknown person or thing told him to go to. He flew closer and closer to the graveyard, ignoring the few monsters below. For whatever reason, Vaati was told to go to the graveyard. He hoped that it would give him a clue to how to get to the Shadow Realm to rescue Twi, and if he had to, stop who was known as The Big Guy. He sighed to himself.

"My thoughts must sound like Link right now...'Save Twi! Defeat the darkness!'" He shrugged it off and looked forward.

He began to fly over a creepy haunted-looking forest when the wind itself seemed to change. He didn't understand why the wind seemed different; he just had a sinking feeling. Then, the wind seemed to halt all together and dropped the wind mage down to the forest. He watched as the dead trees' limbs grew closer and closer, he held his arms in front of him, his arms forming an X in front of his body and face as he fell through the limbs. The wind sped up only to break his crash to the dirt, and then died again, flowing like normal wind. Vaati laid on his stomach, his bangs covering one ruby eye held a few sticks. His violet hat was slightly knocked off from the fall and seemed to help cover his right eye. His visible left eye looked around the dead forest, confused. He pulled a palm-length stick out of his hair and stared at the sky. He moved his fingers through his long hair to search for stuck sticks, freeing them as they fell to the dirt, and he placed his hat back on his head as he thought.

_Yea, sinking feeling it was...Why did the wind drop me like that? I didn't do that...since when does the wind have a mind of its own?_

He sighed and glanced around him, seeing that he was on a path surrounded by dead trees. There were 4 paths he could take, one should send him closer to the graveyard, but the other three were unknown. Where they led wasn't his concern, his concern was which one to take. He sighed as he tried to decide. He looked at the somewhat darker sky and focused his sorcery to fly upwards again, but nothing happened. It was like he was never a Wind Mage.

How much easier his life...no, everyone's life would be if he really never was. He never would've cursed his Master, Zelda would never be turned to stone, the suffering would've never happened. He thought for a moment about that subject. And he never would've met Twi. She'd still be with her mother, happy. But no, she's a victim of his Dark self. Vaati sighed and closed his eyes, remembering how nice she was to him even though she knew right when she met him that he was a wind mage that was known for turning a princess to stone and putting Hyrule in darkness. And what she got in return for being caring and understanding was getting kidnapped. He opened his eyes again and tried to figure out what path to take. He simply just walked forward and took his chances with one. As he inched closer to the path, the wind suddenly blew to the left toward the path beside the one he was originally planning on taking. Vaati waited for a moment and nodded, deciding to let the wind take him. It was still strange to him, why the wind was suddenly leading him places.

_Maybe because I'm a sorcerer of the wind?_ He thought to himself as he walked, _But then why didn't it lead me last year? It could've prevented everything._

He walked past the dead, sad trees. It was like walking through a haunted Halloween path designed to scare the ones who decided to pass through. Vaati glanced around as he followed the breeze that was leading him. He glanced at the purple/blue-tinted trees, each one long dead and sad-looking, then at the dirt ground, cold with all the lost souls, then up at the dark blue sky, just as cold as the dirt. Even as he thought that the sky was cold in its darkness, it reminded him that he had a promise to fulfill, the reason it reminded him was unknown, maybe because his power is in the sky? Or maybe because it matched the shade of Twi's blue eyes? The wind died out as he walked, and he brought his attention back to where he was going. A few decaying trees still stood as a purple path wrapped around them, leading to the graves in the distance. Vaati sighed and walked through the path towards the gate that led to the graves, hoping that there really was something here.

Link finally made it to the entrance to Lost Woods after circling around many paths to catch up with Vaati. He looked questionably at the dead trees with his sky blue eyes.

_Why would he want to come here?_

He sighed and walked into the woods, hoping Vaati wouldn't fly off again before he could catch up with him. He couldn't believe that he was trying to chase his old enemy down, unlike last year when he was trying to destroy him. And what was to gain in The Royal Crypt? Link thought to himself as he walked through Lost Woods, using the correct directions that he memorized the whole way. There were only a few ghosts in that old graveyard, one of them being a past King of Hyrule and one of Zelda's grandfathers. He glanced around the forest as he walked, his thoughts wandered into wonders. He wondered why Dark Vaati chose to take Twi away instead if Zelda, Vaati had a point when he said that a princess's kidnapping is more dramatic than a new girl. Did Twi do something to anger the Dark creatures or was it the result of a secret she held? Link shrugged, unable to come up with anything. She did seem like an innocent person, then why did she get taken? Maybe it was to tick Vaati off, to get him back for escaping his prison. Link halted as he reached an opening, the path led around a few more trees and into the graveyard. His eyes searched around as he walked through the path, hoping Vaati didn't fly off again while he was walking through Lost Woods.

He searched everything, the paths, the trees, the tombstones, the mostly faded dates, and nothing came up. He sighed, kneeling on one leg as he inspected the last stone. The stone seemed to have been there a massive amount of time, the usually smooth surface had been weathered away into a textured, almost soft, surface and took the date and names with it. The last thing left on the stone was what was left of a carving of a cat stretching out, it's paws extended forward and it's tail pointing to the sky, it's body in a horizontal slope. He brushed his purple-ish hand across the cat, feeling the texture and indention of the stone. It was sad to think that a living person got this stone for their passed on loved ones, and took care for the once beautiful stone, only to also pass on and have the stone left behind to weather away and as the dates move on, it's own date of lifeline fades. Vaati stood and looked down at the stone with the feline carved into it, his hand still rested on the top of the 3 foot stone. He did feel sad, even though he had not known this person. His sadness felt strangely familiar to him, although he didn't remember loosing a loved one. He sighed and walked away.

_Tombstones are contagious_. He thought as he watched the path beneath him move as he walked.

"Vaati!" A voice called ahead of him followed by the tap of footsteps against the stone path. Vaati, now snapped out of his thoughts, looked up to see the hero Link himself running toward him.

"...Link," he asked as Link stopped in front of him. "What are you doing here?"

"That's my question. Why are _you_ here?"

Vaati looked to the side, deciding on whether to tell him about the voice that he heard. He sighed and looked back at Link who was waiting for an answer. Just as he opened his mouth to explain, a sudden scream was heard. Not a loud one, but a small, almost cute, scream. Vaati and Link both looked at each other in alarm before glancing around their surroundings.

"You...heard that too, right?" Vaati asked.

"Yea, I heard it."

Vaati sighed in relief; at least he wasn't hearing things again.

"Look!" Link said, pointing towards the sky at a black crow in flight. Vaati looked closer at the crow, it held some kind of a small object in it's talons...

"A minish!" Vaati exclaimed, spotting the tiny body.

Link brought out a bow and arrow and aimed at the crow, he pulled back on the string and released. Direct hit. The arrow struck the crow in it's chest right under it's wing. The crow squawked and released it's talon's grip as it tried to fly onward before dropping dead on the path and decomposed within seconds. Vaati caught the falling Minish careful not to injure it, jumping off of a small ledge to a human is suicide to a Minish. Link ran to Vaati and looked down in his hands where the Minish was. The little Picori looked up at it's heroes.

"Oh thank you, thank you kind heroes!" It said in its somewhat high voice. "Kind strangers, thank you for saving me! I thought I was Crow Meat!"

Link looked at the small Minish, unable to see what clothing it wore to determine if it was from Hyrule Town or Minish Woods.

"Ummm...You're welcome, but...how did you get way out here?" He asked as the Minish looked up at him.

"Oh, that nasty crow carried me away from my home! Ummm...to you, I live close by, but it's like miles for me."

"You live here in the Royal Crypt?" Link asked as the Minish nodded. "I didn't know you guys can live all the way out here."

"Minish are everywhere, you know." Vaati said, looking at Link. "But still, it is pretty odd for one to be out here. GraveMinish are rare."

"GraveMinish?"

"Yes!" The GraveMinish said as it faced Vaati. "You've heard of us? I was told that no one in my village will ever see a human because they don't know about us! And here I am, saved by two hero humans!"

"Ummm..." Vaati started, looking down at the path. "Link is the one who killed the crow. I just caught you."

"Link?" The Minish asked, looking back at the hero in green. "So your name is Link?"

Link nodded, hoping he wasn't going to ask Vaati his name and then find out that he was alive.

"Never heard of you!" The GraveMinish declared as Link was caught off guard. "But thank you anyway, Lick!"

"Umm...it's...Link. There's an 'n' in my name."

"Oh right, Link! I'm sorry; I'm not good with names I never heard before!"

Both Link and Vaati blinked a few times at it's words. The story of Link and Vaati was a well-known tale, how could a Minish never have heard of the adventure that involved their own race? The GraveMinish looked back at the sorcerer in purple.

"And what's your name?"

"Ummm...V-Vaati." He tested, wondering if it was going to scream or gasp.

"Valiant?" It asked, its tiny head tilted like a puppy.

"Umm no, Vaati. Vah-Tee."

"Oh! Cool name!" The GraveMinish cheered. "Nice to meet you, Link and Vaati! My name's Darcana! But everyone in my village calls me Darc!"

"Village?" Link asked. "There are more of you here?"

"Yeah! It's pretty close if you're a human! I could introduce you to the rest of us!" Darc offered.

"Hmm...from what I know about GraveMinish, they're supposed to be rare. And also, they're supposed to specialize in multiple kinds of magic." Vaati thought out loud.

"Correct! That's what we do!"

Link and Vaati exchanged looks, unsure if they should meet the rest of the rare Minish.

_Was this the reason I was sent here?_ Vaati thought.

"I'm not sure about Link, but I'd actually like to meet these rare Minish."

"Awesome!" Darc cheered. "C'mon, Link!" Darc ran to the edge of Vaati's palm and pointed toward a fence that circled around the graves. "My village is that way! They'll all be so excited to finally see a human!"

Vaati stepped in that direction, following Darc's directions. Link stepped after him.

"I'm coming too."

Darc led them over the fence and through the dead limbs and trees to his village. It was a very small amount of human yards away when they reached a small opening that Darc stopped them to. Vaati kneeled down and set his hand close to the dirt so that the GraveMinish could walk into his own village.

"Hey! Listen everyone! I found humans here in the graves!"

A few Minish heads popped out from their shelter at Darc's words. A couple walked into the opening followed by a few more. Soon the whole village was at Link and Vaati's feet, a population of 12 at the most.

_Most GraveMinish gather in 5's_, Vaati thought. _This is pretty strange._

"Link, Vaati. This is my village. Village, this is Link and Vaati. The two heroes that saved me from the crow's attack!"

The crowd gasped and then started clapping, glad that Darc was saved by kind humans. An older Minish walked into the clearing.

"Humans? This is a rare sight." The older Minish said. "A sight I never believed I would see."

"Linn! These humans saved me in the graves!" Darc said to the older Minish.

"I see." Linn said, inspecting the heroes. "And why are two humans running around in the graves?"

"Umm...welll..." Link started.

"Wait a second, why is there a group of GraveMinish this size in one place? I thought there were supposed to be in rare small groups." Vaati asked.

"Hmm, you're smart." Linn said, looking up at Vaati. "But looking up at you is straining my neck. I will return shortly so you can shrink down to our size."

Link and Vaati both stared at Linn clueless as he walked into a dead log, possibly his home.

"...You know the song, right?" Link asked.

"...Song?" Vaati asked.

"Yea, the song that Ezlo used to make me Minish-sized!"

"It's a chant."

"Well, it sounds like a song to me! You know it right?"

"Didn't you learn it last year?"

"No, I was too busy being a hero! You need to use it so we can shrink!"

Vaati sighed.

"I don't know it."

"What? You were Ezlo's apprentice! Shouldn't you know it?" Link asked.

"I wanted to. But Master refused to teach me it. He said that he didn't want me getting in trouble with the humans...but that happened anyway. Besides, we'd need a portal."

"Oh..."

Link looked down, dropping the conversation. When Ezlo talked about Vaati last year, he seemed to take much pride on what he used to be. And he tried to avoid Vaati getting in trouble, too. His old partner, Vaati's own Master, seemed to be a father or grandfatherly figure to the apprentice Vaati. Linn soon returned and looked up at the humans.

"Here you go." Linn said, holding up a bottle of dust that was extremely tiny to Link and Vaati. He poured some into his tiny hands and blew it at the humans. Instead of blowing out in small dust particles, the dust expanded around Link and Vaati's bodies and circled around them. As the grayish white dust circled around him, Link's size decreased greatly until, as the dust blew away into nothingness, his body was as small as a Minish's.

Link glanced around, seeing all of the once tiny creatures suddenly bigger, not that they gained any size, but he simply shrunk. He had almost forgotten how great the world looked through a Minish's eyes. The trees were now endless, the blades of grass were as tall as trees are to humans, and a human palm sized rock was a boulder. It was truly amazing, the sight through a Minish's eyes. Link looked to the side where Vaati stood, also in Minish size. One of the GraveMinish rushed over to them and smiled.

"Pretty cool, huh? This is life as a Minish!" Darc cheered, his arm motioning toward the village.

Now that he was the same size, Link could see that Darc wore a dark red cloak with darker tinted designs of swirls located in random areas. His skin was pale from the lack of sunlight and his eyes were a stone grey. Silver hair ended at his shoulders with a simple black hat with red swirls designs. An older Minish with a black cloak and black hair walked up to the humans whom were slightly shorter than him.

"Surprized?" Linn asked. "Now, again I ask, why have you come here? There must be something you seek."


	11. Chapter 11: Myth of the Graves

"...Do...You know how to pass through to the realm blinded by light? The Shadow Realm?"

"Shadow Realm?" Linn half hissed as he exclaimed. "...C-Come...Come with me."

Linn led Link and Vaati into his log house as Darc followed close behind. Inside the rotting log was a complete house slash study that held many Minish-sized bookshelves and bottles, each containing either a colored liquid or dust.

"The Shadow Realm that you seek is a dangerous place." Linn said, facing his guests as Darc rushed beside him.

"I know. But a friend of mine was kidnapped by a Dark creature and I need to get her back." Vaati explained.

Linn stared at Vaati's serious red eyes as he spoke.

"I...I see. You intentions are pure..." Linn sighed before speaking again. "A Dark creature took her, you say?"

Vaati nodded in reply.

"And you really want to save her?"

Vaati nodded again, his eyes more serious than before. Linn glanced over at Link, whose eyes were also serious. He pointed to Link.

"That blade...is the sword that is known as..." Linn paused as he inspected it further. "The Four Sword?"

Link nodded and pulled the sword out of its scabbard, revealing the legendary Four Sword that shined as the smallest amount of light touched it. Linn inspected it.

"Yes, it is the Four Sword!" Linn exclaimed before looking up at the humans. "So, it has been held once again. You must really be a hero of the light to hold such an item!"

Link smirked and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. These Minish had to have been cut off from the world to not know of last year's event that the Minish race played a big part of. But they still knew of the Four Sword and the place Vaati calls The Shadow Realm, which was enough for this adventure. Linn looked at the sacred sword once more and smoothed his hand over the flat of the blade before handing it back to Link.

"So, back on topic..." The Minish said, scratching his jaw in thought. "The Shadow Realm, you really want to go there, correct?" Vaati nodded in reply as Linn stood in thought. "I...usually don't allow such information...but seeing that you hold the sacred Four Sword and your wants are to save, then I shall allow what I know, though it may be only somewhat helpful...

"The world blinded by Light, the Shadow Realm, holds the monsters and villains consumed by darkness, along with the shadows that light itself created. The Light Force keeps it sealed."

Vaati sighed. "Is there any other information you know?"

"Yes, in fact. I know of a way to go into the Shadow Realm, which is what you seek. It includes the Four Sword as well, so that challenge has passed. If you don't already know, the power of the Four Sword as it is now hold four elements: Fire, Water, Earth, and Wind. That power is enough to send creatures consumed by darkness to the Shadow Realm. But do not try to use that power on yourselves to go forth to the Shadow Realm, for if it does work, the way out will be almost impossible. If it doesn't, it's all over."

_Good to know, _Vaati thought as he threw that idea out of his mind.

"Now, to be able to open a way to the Shadow Realm, the Four Sword will need extra elements infused with it: Light and Darkness. From what I know, obtaining them is quite easy, since they are both found in the same place. But it's finding that place is what the challenge is. The goddesses hid them well to prevent a dark heart from having that power. And that is all I know."

"So there really is a way to pass through the door and enter the Shadow Realm..." Vaati said silently.

_Thank the Goddesses._ He thought. His faith in keeping his promise was starting to fade as the possibilities decreased, but now there was a way.

"Linn, do you know where we could start our search?" Link asked.

"Hmmm...my knowledge in this range isn't as good as..." Linn thought out loud, his voice trailing off as he thought.

"Ummm...Linn?" Darc asked, finally speaking up. "What about the myth of the graves?"

Linn's black eyes met with the younger stone eyes of Darc as he thought.

"Well...the myth Darc is talking about..." Linn started, thinking of how to word it. "may I say now that it is a myth, a rumor that is not proven right or wrong..."

"But that means that it could exist!" Darc said in an optimistic tone.

"Or could very well be just a rumor." Linn added in a realistic yet pessimistic tone.

"The myth of the graves is a rumor about ghosts knowing the future and pasts of the world, as well as its secrets. It's an old rumor, but it could be true!"

Linn sighed as Darc spoke and places his hand on top of the younger minish's head.

"Darc has been investigating that myth for a while now...he gets just a little excited when it comes to that."

"Well, whatever it is, it's a lead." Link shrugged before looking at the young minish. "Is there anything else on the topic?"

Darc nodded excitedly and ran to one of the bookshelves, his index finger scanning over the binding of the books, looking for a particular book. Finally, he spotted the book he was looking for, just inches above his height. He reached up to get it, his hand barely touching the book he wanted. Linn sighed as Darc struggled and began to take a step toward him to help.

"I can get it, Linn!" Darc said, stopping Linn. "I...I can!"

Darc kept reaching, already on the tip of his toes to gain height, his fingers could barely wrap around the binding to pull it out. As Darc made no progress to get the book out, Linn sighed as Link watched in wonder.

_Why didn't Darc want any help?_ He asked in his mind. _It would make it easier for him and speed this up._

Vaati smirked as the young Minish struggled.

_A young minish clothed in violet reached up for a book, the tightness of the books pressed together made it unable for him to wrap his fingers around the binding. He reached for the top of the book and gave it a tug, freeing the book._

_A noise was heard as all of the books surrounding the desired book fell along._

_"Who's there?" a wise voice called, running into the room with a pointed staff in hand, ready to defend himself if needed. He looked down at the small pile of books on top of a younger minish. "Vaati?"_

_The minish Vaati looked up at the other minish with bright red eyes, an opened book lay on his head like a hat and the rest pinned his body down._

_"Vaati, what are you doing?" The minish asked, putting down his pointed staff from its defense position and picking the book off of Vaat's head._

_Busted._

_Vaati quickly jumped up from the pile, holding the book he was trying to get in the first place._

_"Master! I...was trying to get a book...but it was in such a tight spot that I had to use the top of the book instead and everything else fell." He explained._

_His Master looked down at him._

_"If you were having trouble, you could've just asked."_

_Vaati shook his head._

_"Nah, it's just a book. I can do things by myself."_

Vaati saw himself in Darc, wanting to be able to do things on his own. He crossed his arms and flicked his wrist casually. Anyone would've thought it to be natural. A wind blew behind the book and the binding fell into Darc's hand. The Minish smiled and held the book in victory. Linn looked at the book curiously; he was just waiting for Darc to give up. But instead, the book actually was retrieved. Like magic. Darc victoriously walked over to Link and Vaati, opening the book on the table beside them. This, to a human sized being, was just a peice of bark from a tree that was smoothed. As the book opened, notes were revealed.

"In the myth, there's supposed to be a specific place where the spirits can answer your questions. I think I have found the place, but I can't reach it in my size. Since you guys are human, you should be able to reach it!" Darc said as he pulled out a quick sketch of the place he was talking about.

The sketch showed a tall pillar; surely no Minish would be able to climb it.

"How tall is it?" Link asked.

"I guessed about 25 stories." Darc replied.

Link blinked at the answer.

_25 stories? No way would we be able to climb a single pillar that high!_

Vaati elbowed him in the arm, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"That's 4 feet." He whispered quietly enough that Darc and Linn didn't detect it.

"Oh..." Link said, remembering that Minish math would be different than Human math. At least there was one person who could translate.

"I don't know what could exactly lie in wait in that pillar, but I do believe that it's the graves of the spirits that can answer your questions!" Darc continued excitedly while pulling out a map of the graveyard. "The circle is the pillar."


	12. Chapter 12: New Partner

A red circle existed on the map, along with a line that led from the box that was labeled "Village" to the circled labeled "?". The amount of feet was in a Minish's point of view.

"Do you mind if we use this to find our way there?" Link asked.

"Sure! Anything to solve that mystery!" Darc said while smiling adventurously.

"So I assume you'll need to be human size again." Linn said, already looking through the jars of dust. Link and Vaati nodded behind him, even though Linn couldn't see them with his back turned. "Then meet me outside on the edge of the village, I'll be out once I find the potion."

They did just what they were told. Darc led them to the edge of the village and they waited for Linn to return with the potion to make them human sized. Darc asked a lot of questions about the human world, Link answering as many as he could, which wasn't hard since Vaati was deep in thought. He wondered about the voice again, trying to figure out who or what it could be. At first he had thought it to be Linn or Darc, but their voices didn't match up. Besides, the voice was too familiar to be a stranger.

"Hello? Hyrule to Vaati!" Link said, waving a hand in front of Vaati's face.

"What?" He asked, now back to reality.

"Uhhh...never mind."

"Wait!" Darc said. "I have another question..."

"Darcana, haven't you pestered them enough?" Linn said, walking into the clearing holding a bottle of dust. Darc looked at him sadly and walked to his side. "Now, follow the map and check that out. I hope it will be helpful for you."

As he spoke, he opened the bottle and blew the dust out. Like before, the dust blew around the two bodies and as it expanded, so did they. Finally, once they were at their size again, the dust simply disappeared and blew away. Link looked down at the now tiny Minish.

"Thank you." He said, turning around to follow the map, which also grew in size when the dust touched it.

Link focused on the map when they were back in the graveyard, he turned the map around at least 180 degrees _twice_ as he focused. Finally he sighed, giving up.

"Vaati, you need to translate this."

"..."

"...Vaati?" He said again, looking over at the boy in purple, surprised to see him not paying any attention. "Hello?"

"Hmm? What?" Vaati asked, turning towards the blue eyed hero, unaware that he was even speaking until now.

"Alright, what's going on?"

Vaati looked at him with a confused face then looked back at the map he was holding.

"Well for one, the map is upside down." He pointed out.

Link looked at the map, back at Vaati, then at the map again before flipping it right side up.

"...I knew that."

"Right." Vaati said sarcastically.

"...Well you need to translate this anyway. I don't know what 12 minimins is in human language!"

"3 feet."

Link stared at him oddly, one eye in mid-twitch. "...How in Din's name do you know that?"

"Yea, how do you know that!" an unknown voice said.

Both Vaati and Link look at each other, their eyes seemed to ask "Did you say something?". They glanced around for whom or what said that. Nothing. Suddenly, a small face appeared upside down less than an inch away from Link's face, holding onto his bangs.

"Hi!" Darc greeted.

"GAH!"

Link fell backwards, startled by the sudden appearance of Darc, especially when he was right in front of his face. Vaati looked down at Link, confused. Darc looked up at him and waved.

"Darc what are you doing here?" Link asked, holding out his palm for Darc to jump onto.

"I'm ganna help you guys!" Darc said.

"What...about Linn?"

"He won't miss me too much! Besides, I really want to know what's in that pillar!"

Vaati sighed.

"Well, we might as well let him tag along. Besides maybe he can help us."

Darc nodded quickly as Link stood back up and put him on his shoulder.

"I know everything about this myth! I can help!"

"Alright, but wont Linn get mad?" Link asked.

"Nah, it'll be alright. I wanna help!"

Link shrugged, almost causing Darc to fall off.

"Alright."

Link, Vaati, and their new partner Darc walked through the graves, following Darc's well drawn map. Darc both asked questions and gave out information on the myth he was chasing. They passed the dead trees and graves as they searched.

"So why again do you guys wanna go to the Shadow Realm anyway?" Darc asked.

Link looked back at Vaati, who just stared at the ground as they walked.

"I have to so I can save a friend of mine who was taken by a dark creature." Vaati replied, unemotional ruby eyes fixed on the ground. "I made a promise to her to do so."

There was a moment of silence as Darc took it in.

"So...is she your girlfriend?"

"What?" Vaati exclaimed, his eyes finally were taken off the ground and stared at the little minish. Link snickered at Darc's question.

"He asked if Twi was your girlfriend!" Link said louder so that Vaati would hear the question this time, and to also pick fun at him. But mostly to just tease him.

"Yea, is she?" Darc asked, completely interested.

"Wh-Why would she be...?" Vaati asked, his visible cheek turning pink.

"...Your girlfriend?" Link finished, taking an opportunity to tease him. "Well let's see..."

"Shaddup!" Vaati said, stopping Link from saying anything else. "L-Let's just get this done."

Vaati walked ahead, he felt his face get hot. Link laughed in the background, Darc stared at him, waiting for an answer. Vaati ducked his head and stared at the ground again as he walked and hid behind his bangs, waiting for the pink to fade away from his cheeks.

_Why in the name of Farore would Darc think Twi's my girlfriend, anyway? _He wondered.

She stood staring down at the stone railing that was attached to the balcony-type room. She smoothed her hand over the stone as she thought. A shadow appeared behind her from the shadows and watched as she completely ignored him.

_Such a polite girl. _He thought.

"Thinking about jumping?" He asked with a smirk, catching her attention.

"...No." Twi replied, keeping her back at him.

Dark Vaati's smirk faded as he stared at her, boredom in his eyes. With his arms crossed along with that bored glare, it almost made him look like he was pouting, which in a way, he was.

"You're no fun, princess."

Twi spun around, throwing a glare at him.

"Quit calling me that! I'm not a princess..."

She looked down at her royal purple dress that was made for cosplaying. But instead she really was playing the role of Zelda.

"Hahahaah! That got your attention!" Dark Vaati laughed, proud of himself. "You know, you can always ask me your questions, Twi."

"And what? Like I'm going to expect the correct answer from you!"

"Hmmm...I guess you're right. Just thought I'd be polite."

Twi turned her back on him again, looking at the fake sky in thought. She did have questions, many questions, and she wanted answers. But she didn't want to even think about trusting this shadow. Even if the shadow did look like him. Her eyes saddened as she looked back at the stone railing. Dark Vaati, bored once again, stared at her, waiting for something, anything, to happen. He smirked.

"You know, no one is coming here to save you." He pointed out.

"I didn't expect anyone to."

"No matter what you sa...wait..." Dark Vaati stopped and processed what she said. "...What?"

"I don't expect anyone to come and save me. I'm nothing compared to Hyrule itself, and I'm not a princess, even if you keep treating me like a captured princess."

Dark Vaati blinked at her words. He expected her to protest or cry, not _agree_ with him! She really was no fun at all. He sighed and sat on the chair that was in the room, resting his arm on the table beside it and his hand kept his head up. His bored glare returned.


	13. Chapter 13: Vision

"So this is the pillar?" Link asked, looking down at the 4 foot statue, aged with vines and the detail faded, almost completely hidden in the darkness.

Darc nodded excitedly. Link stared at the statue, noticing that there was no way a human could fit into a four foot statue. Vaati wore a disapproving glare, thinking the same thing.

"I don't think we thought this over well..." Link admitted, while scratching his head, trying to figure out how they would be able to get their answers when they can't even shrink anymore. Darc quickly jumped onto the Minish-sized ledge that led to the opening in the statue. He smiled at them and lifted up a familiar jar.

"I did!" Darc exclaimed, happy to be prepared. "This is the potion that will make you shrink! I thought ahead!"

Before anyone could object, he quickly blew the dust at them, making them shrink as the dust expanded around them. The now minish Link and Vaati fell to the earth. Link quickly grabbed onto the ledge before he plummeted 4 feet, which in Minish-Size; 25 stories. He quickly climbed up on top of the ledge and laid on his back, catching his breath of nearly have a heart attack. Darc stood beside his head and looked down at him with grey eyes.

"Umm...sorry."

Link sat up.

"It's fine, we didn't do a good job thinking ahead either..." Link admitted.

"Well..." Vaati said, as the wind lifted him onto the ledge behind Darc. "..at least we're up here."

"Yea..." Link said, standing up and facing the opening in the statue.

Darc could barely contain his excitement. His eyes were full of interest and fantasies.

"C'mon!" He yelled, running into the opening.

"Darc, wait!" Link called, running after the lively GraveMinish with Vaati close behind.

The inside mirrored the outside. Moss and vines grew across the walls and ceilings, aged spider webs hung in the corners. The darkness hid the details behind the vines, no light was available. Link quickly brought out his lantern, the light of the fire revealed the rest of the room hidden by darkness before. The room seemed to take up the entire width and length of the statue, no doors were visible. Darc wandered forward, looking for any kind of hint as to what the statue's purpose was. Link followed behind with the lantern, glancing around as well.

"Is this all that's in here?" Link asked, walking around and lighting the way.

"There has to be something here!" Darc objected, scanning every corner for something they missed. "Maybe the spirits are sleeping! Or hiding!"

Link sighed, watching Darc wander around, looking for spirits. He felt sorry for the young GraveMinish, having his hopes up for this. Vaati inspected the details hidden behind the vines and moss, also looking for any kind of clue or hint, his own hopes began to fade. Link glanced back at the ex-villain, not noticing that he was also looking into every detail. Although he couldn't read minds, he could tell that Vaati was also disappointed. Who wouldn't be? The hero began to feel just as useless as he did 1 year ago, when his best friend was threatened by an evil villain and he shielded her with the very shield she gave him, only to be thrown aside like a ragdoll. Waking up and walking into the room where she stood, stiff as stone. Knowing he couldn't protect the princess...

"Hey!" Darc exclaimed, smoothing his hand across a part of the wall. "Look!"

Link lifted his lantern in front of him and walked to where the minish stood, the light from the fire showing an orb glowing in the fire's presence in a dark aqua color, or so it seemed in the darkness. Darc admired it, his eyes full of victory, happy that at least something was here. Vaati inspected the orb, searching for it's purpose.

_Is this the thing that will help me find her? _Vaati wondered, _or just a simple art project?_

He looked over the designs of swirls, the vines flowing over the wall. His eyes followed the vines up until it reached the ceiling, noticing that the orb was untouched by the vines. The frame that held the orb in the wall looked like new compared to the rest of the room, the vines poured around the orb, not one dared to flow over it and hurt it's beauty.

_Strange. _He thought, his eyes narrowing.

As his eyes narrowed, the orb's color seemed to darken from aqua to deep blue. Vaati blinked, unsure if he was imagining things or if it really happened. The orb seemed to change color again, this time to a black and white picture, like a painting. A girl looked over an empty world; he could only see the back of her. Her dress flowed to the stone floor, her hair ended at her back. She slowly looked over her shoulder, almost in slow motion. Her eyes were the only color in the picture, the same blue the orb turned just seconds ago.

Vaati blinked himself back to Hyrule, a tint of dizziness crept over him, but he was still standing.

"Umm...Vaati are you alright?" Link asked, noticing the state Vaati was in at the moment.

"Umm...yea. Just a slight headache. Sorry." He said in excuse, rubbing the back of his head. Link narrowed his own eyes, barely believing what was said.

_They didn't see it, apparently. _Vaati thought, _But..what was "it"? That orb, what did it do? _He inhaled as he thought, _That girl, there's no doubt about it. This orb knows her...does it know how to get to her?_

Vaati shrugged, knowing that Link and Darc was still watching him.

"Well, besides this treasure being here, I don't think there's anything else." He said.

"But it's something! I found treasure! I knew there was something here, I just knew it!" Darc cheered, his excitement turning into hyper. "Linn will be so proud! ...But...I'm sorry I couldn't help you find your girlfriend."

"She's NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!" Vaati argued, automatically snapped out of his thoughts.

Link snickered at Vaati, ready to also poke fun at him. He passed the opportunity, still curious as to why Vaati acted weird a few minutes ago. He glanced outside, realizing that dark was approaching.

"Well, anyway, we should probably head back if there's nothing here. It's getting dark."

Darc looked up at Link with wide eyes.

"WHAT'S GETTING ME?" He asked in panic. Vaati face-palmed in the background.

"No! Not Darc dark, but dark dark! ...Umm...Dark with a "K" at the end." Link explained to the panicking minish.

"...Ohhh...whoops my bad." Darc said, rubbing the back of his neck. "But yea, Linn might get mad if I'm out too long."

Link stared at the minish in curiosity.

"So...Is Linn your grandfather or something?"

"Huh? No, why?"

"...nevermind, let's just get back to the village." Link said, heading outside.

Linn glared at the young GraveMinish as he returned, Link and Vaati followed behind.

"Darc, I assume you snuck out and followed them." Linn said, his arms crossed.

"Yea, I wanted to know what was really there!" Darc said.

"Darcana, sneaking out is not in my beliefs!"

Darc's head hung as Linn's glare continued. Link and Vaati stared at the minish awkwardly, unsure whether to speak or not. Linn sighed after a few moments and placed his hand on top of Darc's head, slightly messing up his hair.

"Very well then, there's no use arguing about it if it's in the past." Linn looked at the humans as Darc looked up at Linn, happy for forgiveness. "Anyway, was that the place you were looking for?"

"Not really. But thanks for your help anyway." Link said. "We should probably head out before it gets dar-I mean before nighttime."

"Ah, no need to be in a rush, you may stay in the village until morning." Linn offered.

"Ummm..." Link glanced at Vaati, unsure if he wants to risk them finding out what they missed last year.

"Sounds good." Vaati accepted to Link's surprise. "You can head home to check up on Princess Zelda if you want, Link."

"Well, if you want to stay, we have a few empty rooms." Linn offered again.

"I'll stay too; I don't think I'll make it back home before it gets really late." Link said, glancing over at Vaati.

**_

* * *

_**

Sorry for taking so long! Major writers block and a few distractions equals no progress! I blame winter season. Christmas, New years, my birthday, A7X, AND brother's anniversary are all in it! Well, with those dates passed, I think I can get back to just having writers block!

**__**Anyway, the only characters to this point that belong to me are: Twi, Twi's mother, Dark Vaati, Darc, and Linn...oh and the voice! (Almost forgot about it.)


	14. Chapter 14: Riddles

A sigh was heard as a blonde hero clothed in green sat on the bed he was offered, which wasn't very comfortable due to the fact it was a cloth over multiple mushrooms. He smoothed his hand over the uneven "bed", his thoughtful blue eyes slightly hidden by his somewhat long bangs.

_Something's eating Vaati, _He thought, taking his green hat off, remembering the goodbye gift from his friend. _He's not as focused as I remember him. He's spacing out half the time. _He sighed and threw his back into the bed, staring at the ceiling. _Well, he probably does have a lot on his mind...but it's nothing he can't share, right?_

He unsheathed his legendary blade, the Four Sword shone in the remaining light. He stared at his own reflection on the blade, memories of fighting monsters came to mind, the biggest monster being Vaati himself. He remembered stabbing the eye symbol on his chest, wounding and very much pissing "The Great Demon Vaati" off, then fighting a more impressive version of him, this time killing him, or so he thought, but instead it sealed him away to be released only days ago, but released another threat in the process. He smiled slightly at the reflection as the memories of slaying Vaati returned to him, the battle he thought was his last sight of the violet sorcerer.

_Heh, how things can change...things are so different._

Meanwhile, the violet clothed sorcerer sat up in his own mushroom bed in the room down the hall, his own thoughts floating through his head.

_Why didn't Link just go home? The princess is most likely still sick, plus with The Big Guy proving that he can send Shadow Beings to this world, no one in Hyrule is safe, especially not the princess._

He stood up and paced around the dark room, still deep in thought. The lack of light darkened his violet clothes into deep, almost black, purple, his eyes in the darkest red. As he turned, the light streaming from the window hit his face, his red eyes seemed to be the only thing lighting up. He took the appearance of a dark villain in the darkness, contradicting his quest. He pushed Link out of his thoughts, moving onto the next subject on his mind: the orb. Darc's words traveled into his head.

_"In the myth, there's supposed to be a specific place where the spirits can answer your questions. I think I have found the place, but I can't reach it in my size. Since you guys are human, you should be able to reach it!" Darc said as he pulled out a quick sketch of the place he was talking about. _

Vaati thought deep on that subject.

_Spirits that can answer questions...maybe it's not really a ghost. There is something odd about that orb. Either I am going crazy or that orb was trying to answer what my questions were, and since it is not normal for orbs to show pictures of people, I'm going to lean on this answer part. _He sighed, hoping he was still sane.

He glanced outside, the dead grass looking eerie in the moonlight. It was decided. The orb that had seemingly entered his mind was trying to tell him how to get to the cosplaying princess, and this time, he was going to listen.

The slight breeze was chilling in the darkness. The graveyard was dark enough in the day, nighttime tempted it into pitch black. Vaati flew in the darkness, a ball of blue energy that was held in his hand let off light, it flickered in a fire-like motion. Dodging every branch that threatened to hit him, he made his way back to the stone pillar. He found it weird that now his magic was working when before it failed to assist him when coming to the Crypt in the first place, but he decided to wonder about that later. His bipolar magic, returning monsters, the mystery of the voice that told him to come here, nothing seemed to matter at the moment. All he needed to focus on was getting the information he came for, after that, he could wonder about anything. Finding a path to the Shadow Realm would soon be one less worry in his head. He swiftly landed on the ledge of the 4 foot statue, staring at the entrance.

_This is it. _He thought, taking his steps toward the entrance and praying he was right. For the first time since his own shadow came, he felt like he somewhat had a chance to fullfill his promise.

The room remained the same, molded, old, and artistic. He stopped in the doorway, staring at the aqua orb he came for. The fire-like light source reflected off of the orb as he approached. He stood a few feet away from the wall holding what he hoped would be answers, looking up at the orb. All that was left was to wait and hope he was right. He continued to just stare at the orb, looking for a change, an answer, anything that would be of some help.

A figure creeped in the hallways of the stump-house. Taking gentle steps to avoid being detected, the figure walked onward, slowly and carefully. The shadowy figure slowly made it's way into the main room, the study full of books. Suddenly, a torch was lit, revealing the creeper in the dark. Linn looked at the figure, putting the safety cover over the minish torch beside a desk, his eyes showed slight surprise. The figure froze in mid-step, staring back at him with wide eyes.

"Couldn't sleep?" Linn asked, sitting down casually at his desk as Link stayed in his mid-step stealth-mode freeze.

"Ummm...not really." He said, rubbing the back of his head as he unfroze. "I didn't wake you up did I?"

"Oh no, not to worry about that." Linn said, waving his hand as if waving away the thought. "I was awake in the first place." Linn stared at Link for a moment. "I apologize, but I don't recall your name."

"Oh, It's Link." The hero replied, his blue eyes bright.

"Well, Link, I also apologize for Darcana following you earlier. He's such a child."

"No problem, really." Link said before arching an eyebrow. "Umm..." Linn looked at the hero as Link paused before speaking again. "Never mind..."

Linn stared at the curious hero. After a few moments, he decided to change the subject. "Your friend isn't awake?"

"Hmm...I'm not sure...I mean he probably should sleep, he'll need it, but he probably has a lot running around his head." Link thought out loud, slightly embarrassed that he was worrying about his ex-villain.

"Ahhh about the girl he wishes to save?"

"Most likely." Link said, slightly laughing. "And probably some other things as well."

"His quest is going to be tricky." Linn said. "He must be dedicated."

Link nodded, the flashback of dark Vaati's appearance returning. The evil ruby eyes, the pointed tooth in his smile, the mystery behind him. "Hey Linn, do you know anything on people from the Shadow Realm?"

"Indeed. Anything particular you wish to know? I'm afraid my knowledge isn't as good as..." Linn stopped himself before speaking again. "..but I will offer what i can."

Link nodded, thankful that he could at least learn something in this trip.

"Can you tell me everything you know?"

Linn nodded, thinking through what he was going to say.

"Shadow beings from the Realm of Shadow are just what their name is: a dark being. I've read of many stories about them, every one describing them as monsters. Sometimes, if the original's heart belongs in the light, a shadow being will be created that looks just like the original, quite like a duplicate. The dark being will be much close to the opposite of the original. But I'm pretty sure it needs to be created by a magic wielder who belongs to the shadows...anyway, along with the appearance of their original, they will also possess the knowledge the original had before their dark side was created. For example, let's say there was a Dark Darcana. That Dark being will only have knowledge Darcana had up to his creation. If Darcana learns something like how to use a sword after Dark Darcana was created, then the new Dark would have to learn sword moves on his own to possess the same knowledge. Now, they will also possess dark magic powers like the ability to take on a closer resemblance to their original."

_That explains Dark Vaati's appearance when he tricked me, Twi, and Zelda into thinking he was Vaati. _Link thought.

"I've heard that their actual appearance was exactly like their originals, just in a gothic-like color. For example, your dark self would most likely have black hair and a black tunic along with possible red eyes. But I've heard of a Shadow being not being completely gothic. I've heard that besides the color change, there will be other alternations on them, some examples I've read are things like slightly different hair style, red eyes...things like that...and that's all I can think of on the spot. I have a few books on them in my possession." Linn said, directing Link to the books behind him. "You may read until you are tired."

"Thanks." Link said, walking to the books.

He skimmed his finger along the binding of the books, reading the titles.

_Forgotten Magic, Dark Magic, Easy Potions, Bio of Monsters, Hyrule's Sages, Legend of the Four Sword, Myths of the Graves..._Link stopped on the last book his finger was on and picked it up, flipping through a few pages. He flipped through pictures, theories, everything until he found a hand-written note within the book like a bookmark.

_Probably one of Darc's Notes. _Link thought, looking at the paper. The handwriting was neat and organized, unlike Darc's slightly sloppy kid-like handwriting. He read it with ease.

_Myth of the Graves: Spirits of the Relic_  
_"Those who come to seek will find nothing, those who seek without seeking will find us."_  
_The spirits will enter you very thoughts, your very mind. But they hold answers._

Link paused after that line, staring at the little sense it made. Sighing, he continued.

_"Those who find us will find answers, but we'll give them questions to answer their own questions."_  
_-Foresta S._

Link read the lines over and over, trying to make sense of it. He had no idea what Foresta S. was trying to say.

"How did you find that?"

Link looked behind him at Linn who was reading over his shoulder.

"I thought I lost that research long ago." Linn said.

"Oh it was right here." Link explained. "...who's Foresta S.?"

"...just an old friend of mine who wanted nothing more than knowledge. He loved to study. He came here hoping to find the same thing you came for, what he called 'Spirits of the Relic'."

"...did...he find it?" Link asked. Linn shrugged.

"He refused to say to anyone, but he told me that he had. But he refused to tell where. He let me have his notes, since he no longer needed them."

"Do you know what this means?" Link asked, giving the riddle to Linn. Linn read it over.

"Hmmm...I remember him saying something about this. 'If you go looking for your answers, the spirits will not give. But if you go, seeking only the object the spirits have, your answers you also seek will be revealed.' is something I believe he once told me. I'm not sure about the second half."

Link thought it over, wondering where it would be. He yawned in surrender.

"Well, I guess it doesn't matter if we don't know where it is. I'm going to turn in then. Thanks for the information." Link said, putting the book back where it belonged. He walked through the dark hallway, his eyes adjusting. He passed the room Vaati was in and peeked in the keyhole, checking if he was awake, then he would tell him what he learned. An open window was the only source of light in the room behind the door.

_Wait...an open window?_

Quickly, he opened the door and revealed nothing. No one was in the room. Vaati had snuck out. Cursing, he closed the door behind him and exited through the window.

Seconds turned to minutes. Patience turned to a string ready to snap. Vaati still stared at the orb, looking for a change, his stare turning into a glare.

_Nothing. Damn it. Nothing's happening!_

Frustrated, he sat down, staring at the old stone floor beneath him.

_I suppose it was stupid, thinking some jewel would spontaneously animate and tell me my answers._

He glared back at the orb.

"It's just a jewel...a treasure...a treasure worth seeking but not for the reasons I believed." He sighed, standing up. "Whatever."

He turned around and walked toward the exit, giving up his belief. He felt useless again, at this rate; he would never return Twi to the world of light. He could barely survive a single year in that prison, she didn't deserve to go through that Hell. He felt a hand grab his shoulder, stopping him in his tracks. He quickly looked behind him, a ball of violet energy formed in his hand, ready to attack the possible monster. What he thought was a possible monster was nothing more than a woman. The woman was transparent; her body had a slight glow. Her eyes widened as Vaati met her pale rose eyes. Her hair was cut in choppy layers; it had a slight red tint to its transparency. Vaati's energy attack faded as they both stared. The woman suddenly flinched back and took several steps away before sprinting into the wall.

"W-Wait!" Vaati called as she disappeared into the wall. "...what...was..."

He walked back to the wall holding the jewel, the same wall the woman literally ran into. He pressed his palms against it and glanced up at the wall, the orb catching his eye. The once aqua orb once again began to change into the deep blue color. Mimicking what it did before, it changed into a black and white painting, showing the same vision as before. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't take his eyes away. It was like he was forced to watch the orb as the picture faded. Nothing else was visible, the orb was the only thing not hidden. But after a few moments, the orb began to fade altogether.

"Those who come to seek will find nothing." an unknown voice said, "Those who seek without seeking will find us."

The wind blew through Link's hair as he flew. He tightened his grip on the vine reigns that was connected to the bridle, he used the same vine as the bit to control his "air steed" as he put it.

"Why didn't I think of this last year?" Link asked himself, proud of his working idea. "Then again, I'm not sure if Ezlo would've agreed..."

He steered the crow in the direction of the statue he, Vaati, and Darc had explored earlier, the only place he could think Vaati would be.

_He did act a little weird before we left, but he didn't say anything. _He sighed as he flew by the dead trees, feeling the wind.

_Ugh...damn it..._ Vaati cursed, holding his head as his skull pounded. It seemed that his whole body was pulsing. After a few short moments, though, it passed as if it never existed.

The violet sorcerer opened his eyes and let his hands drop from his head. He expected to be facing the wall that held the orb that was discovered only a few hours ago, but instead he was facing a vacant room. He glanced over his shoulder; the door was no longer there.

_Great, now what's going on?_

"Please don't be alarmed." A soft voice said in a caring tone. Vaati looked back forward, facing the transparent woman he had seen only moments before. She was suspicious to him, he kept his guard up. The woman's rose eyes softened.

"Please don't be alarmed." She said again. "I have no powers that can match your own." Her eyes were innocent. "You seek answers, yes?"

_Spirits who answer one's questions..._Vaati thought, _Makes sense now why she's transparent._

"Alright," Vaati finally said, still keeping up some of his guard. "And you're the spirit who will give me answers right?"

The spirit smiled sweetly with her innocent eyes, she folded her hands together in a prayer-like pose.

"Those who find us will find answers, yet we'll give them questions to answer their own questions."

_A riddle? _Vaati thought when she finished. _What is that supposed to mean anyway?_

"You'd like to know what I said means, but I sense that it is secondary to your main reason for being here." The spirit said, surprising Vaati that she knew his thoughts. "You wish to know how to reach the Realm of Shadows, am I correct?"

Vaati's red eyes widened as she spoke, barely believing that she really knew what he was here for.

"The element of Light and Shadow, that's how to reach the Shadow Realm." He said, recalling what Linn had told him.

"The element of Light and Shadow are not items. They have no physical appearance like the elements of Fire, Wind, Water, and Earth." The spirit said. "But they can be found. Seek the goddesses and you will be granted the elements."

Vaati nodded at the somewhat helpful information. Based on what the spirit before him said, the goddesses posses the element's power.

"If you wish to seek the goddesses, you will need to seek the Minish Sage." The spirit continued.

Vaati inhaled and stared at her in disbelief.

"You mean my Master." He said as she nodded. "So there's a way to pass into his world again even though the door was sealed only last year?"

The woman nodded again. "You will need to find the messenger of the sage if you wish to reach him." The spirit folded her hands together again. "Now I must send you back, for my strength to keep you here fades."

Vaati nodded in understanding, he needed to start his search for his master as soon as possible. The girl stared at him before speaking. "Ummm..."

Vaati looked up at her as she spoke again with pleading eyes.

"My dearest friend who lives in the village nearby, can you send him my word that I wish him and his apprentice the best?" She had much love in her eyes. "Please?"

_Someone knows her in the village? Who? _

Before he had time to ask, her image along with the rest of the room faded to black.

* * *

**_Alright, sorry that this chapter isn't as good as I had hoped, I ended up rushing it so I could finally get past this damn chapter! I had problems because I knew what I wanted the riddles to mean but I couldn't get it in words. So I'm really really sorry, I promise the next chapter will be better and not so rushed._**

**_-Twi_**


	15. Chapter 15: Departing from the Graves

_This...is getting...old._ Vaati thought, his head pulsing again as the headache he had just gotten out of settled. His fingers were pushed under his violet hat, holding his head tightly as if it would help.

He opened his eyes, once again staring at the strange wall, the orb unchanged. As his headache vanished, he glanced around his surroundings, once again in the entrance room. He dropped his hands and secured his hat, unsure of what really happened. He glanced at the ground before looking back at the wall.

_Master's messenger is what I need to find. _Vaati thought as he remembered the short meeting with the spirit girl.

He felt the wind blow gently as he walked out of the pillar toward the edge of the ledge. He looked towards the black sky, reminding him of the darkness he must overcome. His hand was lit in an energy-like fire, lighting the way.

"Don't worry, Twi. I will find my master and I will rescue you."

"VAATI!" He heard a familiar voice call in the distance. Lifting his hand up, he spotted a familiar hero on a crow.

Link quickly landed his air steed and jumped off, glaring at Vaati with blue eyes.

"What's going on with you?" Link almost yelled. "You've been acting weird and now all of a sudden you sneak out to here!"

Vaati sighed, unsure why the hero was concerned anyway. Link should be concerned for Hyrule, the people, and his princess, especially when she has fallen ill. Link paused before continuing.

"It's Twi, isn't it?"

Vaati looked at him with ruby eyes and nodded slightly.

"I think I found someway to reach the Shadow Realm. But it's starting a different search." Vaati explained.

"Well what is it?" Link asked, awaiting an answer.

"This is my quest, Link. Yours is to make sure the princess is fine. If she weakens any more, there's going to be more and more shadows appearing."

Link stared at him, understanding what he meant but not understanding why he wanted to keep the rescue plan to himself. Vaati sighed again before glancing at the crow behind Link.

"Well, I guess you do have some good ideas in that brain of yours." Vaati commented as Link glanced behind him at the crow.

"Geez, act surprised why don't you!"

Vaati smirked as the hero crossed his arms, somewhat offended from his sarcastic comment. Link sighed, letting it go to move onto the next subject.

"Hey, Vaati." He began, catching his attention. "You should give me more support about my smarts, since I know some information on Dark Vaati along with the other shadow creatures."

Vaati stared at him with his red eyes glowing from the energy in his hand's light. Link smirked at him this time, arms still crossed.

"But we should go back to Linn's house before he notices we're gone. Din only knows what he'll think."

Vaati stared at the hero with his only visible eye, thinking over what he was just told. They had managed to sneak back in before they were noticed to be missing from Linn's house, they stood facing each other in Vaati's rented room. Link thought over the information once more, making sure he didn't forget anything.

"So Dark Vaati possesses the same knowledge I did before I gave up the darkness." Vaati thought out loud.

"Oh right, Linn thought that he would've needed a magic wielder of some sort that is with the darkness to create him." Link informed, remembering that he had forgotten that detail.

"Most likely the Big Guy's work." Vaati said, dismissing that mystery. "So he doesn't know what I do know."

He sighed in relief, glad that his dark side most likely isn't aware of the possibility of crossing into the Minish World without waiting another 99 years. Link crossed his arms and stared back at Vaati.

"Alright now your turn." He started, causing a confused look from Vaati. "You said you know someway to get to the Shadow Realm and something about a search."

"And I also stated that your job is to make sure of the princess's safety."

"I understand what you mean, but she does have an impressive team of soldiers looking after her."

"Where was that attitude last year?"

"I was the only one capable of the mission who could see the Minish!"

"I know you're worried about her, no matter what you say. I suggest you calm your own worries and make sure of her safety and health." Vaati countered, giving him a hard glare.

Link glared back at him, remembering the times when that exchange of glares was from pure hate. And now that same moment of glares remain from just wanting to help. He sighed in frustration and walked toward the door.

"Whatever. I'm going to bed." He said as he shut the door.

Vaati sighed and sat on his mushroom bed, yanking his hat off and setting it next to him.

_Why does he insist on choosing my aid over the princess's? _He wondered. _I was the one who terrorized Hyrule last year. I was the one who broke out of the Shadow Realm. I was the one who put Twi in danger by accepting her help. I was the one who the King of the Shadow Realm made a shadow of to get back at me. This quest was meant for me to make things right. Surely, he would be able to understand what that means._

He sighed, laying his back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling.

_I suppose that doesn't matter at the moment. That spirit said that I need to find Master's messenger if I want to find him...And something about someone who knows her in a village nearby...most likely this village. But the only ones I know are Linn and Darc._

He sighed, laying on his side. He closed his eyes into darkness, deciding to dismiss the request until morning, along with Link's stubbornness.

_A body hit the hard ground, followed by laughing and snickering. The minish boy slowly picked himself up, staring at the others with red eyes. The Minish in front of him showed a victorious smile, glaring down at him. He was a regular Minish, unlike his victim._

_"Just leave him alone!" A different voice yelled as the fallen minish brushed back a strand of longer violet hair from his eye-length bangs. The Minish in front of him glared at the source of the voice._

_"He needs to stop being such a freak! Just because Sage Ezlo accepted you doesn't mean I have to." The minish, glaring threateningly at him. "Why don't you stand up for yourself, Vaati? Be independent for a while." He teased._

_Vaati stared back at him, unsure what to do. He knew his master taught him that darkness and violence didn't get anyone anywhere, but yet here he was trying to be what he was taught to be, and so far it was failing. He quickly stood and stared at the minish, still unsure which to choose. He knew some magic spells that his Master had taught him, he could use it just to get rid of the hassle he was in._

_The minish in front of him glared at him with a smile. Vaati was aware that he only hated him because of not only his different looks, but the fact that he was the apprentice the sage Ezlo chose to teach instead of anyone 'normal'. The jealous minish took a step toward him; his eyes alone seemed to throw the threats. As soon as his foot touched the ground, a blurred object struck into the ground in front of him and Vaati, causing them both to freeze. They both stared at the wooden staff that was used as a spear, recognizing the bird-like figure sculpted as its handle._

_"I suggest you return to your businesses." A wise voice said, followed by a elder minish appearing behind Vaati._

_"Ummm...Y-Yes Sage Ezlo!" The jealous minish said before nearly running away._

_The Sage Ezlo lifted his staff from the ground and looked down at his apprentice._

_"You were wise to not resort to such dark deeds, Vaati."_

_Vaati stared back at his Master, starting to question if it was really strong to obey, or if the darkness of his heart would grant true strength._

Light soon broke through the window, waking him from his sleep that seemed to last only a few minutes. He sat up, brushing his bangs to the right side of his face as he thought over his dream that seemed to be more like a memory.

_If only I knew what I know now back then. _Vaati thought, placing his hat on top of his head.

"So you must leave now?" Linn asked, holding a familiar jar full of what seemed like dust.

Vaati nodded, trying to leave as soon as possible so that he could begin his search.

"Yes, but there is one more thing I need to do before I leave."

Link sprinted into the room, nearly tripping over his own feet and glared at Vaati.

"You better not be thinking about leaving me behind when I'm not looking! Because I will find you, I have an air steed dammit!" Link nearly yelled, pointing his finger at the wind sorcerer.

Vaati sighed as Linn just glanced at Link and Vaati multiple times both with a confused expression. Shaking his head, he decided that it was most likely not worth knowing what Link was yelling about.

"Well, if I may ask, what is it that you feel the need to do before leaving?" Linn asked, changing the subject.

"I was told that there was a teacher and his apprentice here." Vaati started.

"Correct, two of my colleagues are teachers, each with an apprentice."

"A woman in the graves asked me to send her word to a friend of hers and his apprentice."

"A woman?" Linn asked. Link stared at Vaati with a very confused expression.

"Yes. A woman with red hair."

Linn smiled at Vaati's words, as if remembering a close memory.

"Paile." He said. "Yes I know of her. It must be me that she hoped you would seek, considering that I am the only one who knows of her existence in this village."

Vaati stared at him, surprised it was that easy but still slightly confused.

"Allow me to explain." Linn began, "Paile came into this village a long time ago and asked me to teach someone, to take a certain minish as an apprentice. She claimed to be suffering a decease, and she had not much longer to live in this world. I lost my only son to sickness, so out of sympathy I agreed. My apprentice knows nothing of her fate, or even her existence. Such a shame that an innocent child such as Darc will never know his own mother."

"So, Darc's your apprentice?" Link asked. "But he doesn't call you 'master'."

Linn laughed before replying.

"I suppose I seem more like a grandfather than anything...sometimes I feel like it too."

Vaati smirked at the master slash grandfather of Darc.

"Well, she requested that I send word to you then, I guess to substitute thanks."

Linn nodded, a smile upon his face. It was ironic how when one life must be taken from the world, it grants another life a blessing.

"Well then, I suppose we should head outside and turn you two back to normal humans." Linn said, holding up the jar into plain sight.

Vaati and Link both nodded before walking out of the house that would soon look more like a stump. Linn took a handful of dust from the jar he held and blew it at them, causing the cloud to expand and allow them to return to normal height. He looked up at the humans and waved his tiny arm. Vaati glanced behind him and waved, followed by Link doing the same.

"Thank you! And tell Darc we said bye!" Link said, walking ahead with Vaati.

* * *

**_FINALLY I got them out of the Graveyard! It seemed like forever since they've been there! Now, onward!_**


	16. Chapter 16: Team

The only audible sound was the steps they took as their feet hit the ground. The stones sticking up from the dead ground slowly faded into the darkness as they walked into the Lost Woods. Link brushed his bangs out of his eyes and glanced over at Vaati, who said nothing. He kept wondering what Vaati knew, and why he refused to allow him to help. Vaati felt eyes watching him; he attempted to ignore Link's glances only to become more irritated by them. The violet sorcerer believed that the hero should act like a hero and protect his princess. The green-clothed hero believed that the ex-villain should figure out that having comrades was the only way to rescue his own cosplay princess. Link glanced at his shoulder and brushed his hands through his hair, giving him an appearance of bed-head. He looked back at Vaati, noticing that he was staring at him with a confused expression. He looked back at him innocently.

"...What are you doing?" Vaati asked, wondering if Link still possessed his sanity.

"Making sure Darc wasn't hitchhiking again! Geez, don't look at me like that." Link replied, brushing his bangs back down and securing his green hat.

Vaati closed his eyes and shrugged as he continued to walk forward. Link slightly glared at him, angry that he was trying to act like he knew nothing that Link didn't already know himself. He erased the glare from his face and inhaled.

"So what now?" Link asked.

"Well, we have to get out of these woods first." Vaati replied, glancing around at the surrounding trees.

Link waited for him to continue, but silence was all that was spoken. Link's glare returned, he was tired of the lack of information. He knew that Vaati learned something, something he refuses to tell him. But the hero was determined to find out exactly what it was.

"So, after we get out of Lost Woods, what's our next move?" Link asked.

"You're going to have to protect the princess." Vaati said, not facing Link.

"I can't protect her from a sickness she already has. Besides, I also need to protect Hyrule, and with your dark self out there along with other shadows, helping you out will help me get rid of them." Link argued. "You said so yourself that the King of the Shadow Realm guy is most likely after you."

Vaati sighed in defeat, knowing it was true.

"Why do you want to help me find the Shadow Realm so badly anyway? Only a few days ago you didn't even think about trusting me."

Link remembered the encounter with the shadow beast that attacked him and Zelda when they first found out that the princess was ill, "Vay" joined the fight and exposed himself as "Vaati, the Wind Mage". He remembered threatening to kill him again but the Wind Mage just walked away.

"Yea, I did hold a grudge against you for a few days..." Link admitted.

"...Then why the sudden interest in helping me?"

"Well, it's not like you're doing all of this due to evil desires anymore. Saving Twi is a good cause. And you can't do all of it alone." Link explained. "I would've never saved Zelda last year if it weren't for the help I got. I would've never been able to interact with the Minish if it weren't for Ezlo and I wouldn't have been able to restore the Four Sword by myself either." He paused, thinking. "And I know for a fact that you're not evil, Linn said that someone who is in darkness can't have a shadow."

Vaati remained silent.

"C'mon, I'm trying to be an ally here." Link pressed on. "What do you know?"

Silence.

"Do you know where to find the Light and Darkness elements? Because I'm the one with the Four Sword, you can't exactly use their power without this sword!"

Vaati sighed, that much was true too. The Four Sword was needed to use the new elements, and he knew that he really can't save anyone on his own. Also, when he finds his old master, he would need someone to help convince him of the new darkness he _didn't_create. He had no choice; he'd have to accept Link as a teamate if he ever wanted to finish what he started.

"I found out that the Goddesses themselves have the elements." Vaati started, Link stared at him half surprised that he was actually allowing him to know and half of what he was just told. "But only a specific Sage knows how to find them."

"A Sage?" Link asked. "Do you know who?"

"Take a wild guess." Vaati replied, looking at Link with red eyes.

"...You mean we have to get to Ezlo?" Link asked, followed by a nod from Vaati. "How? The door was sealed last year!"

"Apparently there's a 'Messenger of the Sages' that can be found, but that's all I know."

Link scratched his cheek in thought.

"It's good information, but nothing to hint where to look for the messenger..." He thought out loud. "Well Ezlo was _your _master; do you know anything about a 'messenger'?"

Vaati shook his head as he thought through the years of studying and knowledge, and not once did a messenger come into the subject. Link looked down at the dead dirt in thought, hoping for an idea.

"I guess we hit a wall." Link announced. "I've never heard of a Messenger of the Sages, and a lot of the townspeople tell a lot of random stories about that kind of stuff, I would have heard of it by now. The only messenger I know is the Postman."

Vaati sighed and scratched the back of his head, gaining a mini-headache from searching through his memories of information taught to him in his life as a Minish, and throughout all of the information taught none pointed to a messenger.

"Well I suppose we should just get out of this haunted maze first." Vaati stated.

Link smirked before walking ahead of Vaati.

"I know this place by heart, I'll lead." He said with enthusiasm. Vaati simply nodded as Link walked forward with full confidence. Behind the hero, he stared at the abnormal ground, not allowing himself to not think through what he knew to advance in his search for his master's messenger. He thought threw his encounter with Paile, any kind of information that would help, and reminded himself of the still unknown voice that commanded him to the graves in the first place. He shook his head halfway through the Lost Woods, still unsure where to start with a possibility with no beginning. Link glanced over his shoulder.

"By the way, if you wanted me to return back to Zelda and continue on your own...why didn't you just fly away? You are a sorcerer of wind." Link asked out of curiosity. Vaati sighed.

"I can't around here." He simply answered. "On my way here the wind fell out of my control, reappearing randomly." He tried to sum it up the best he could.

Now it was Link's turn to cause the pause of silence, although it didn't last long.

"That's not supposed to happen, right?"

"Right."

"Anything else that's been weird?" Link asked.

Silence once again fell across the allies.

"Vaati?"

"Nothing, that's it."

* * *

**_Alright, so I can explain why I've been unactive with Wind's Return. Writer's Block, Major. I knew what I wanted to be written, but I had no way of putting it into story form words. And when I did, then I would get stuck after a few paragraphs and not know where to go next. This happened with both this one and my other ongoing fanfic. I'm hoping I can break out of it, since I know now in advance what I want to happen. But getting there is going to be a journey in itself._**

**_Well I hope you enjoyed, feel free to review if you so desire to._**

**_-MidnightTwi_**


	17. Chapter 17: The Next Move

The last dead tree that was barely a part of the dark maze stood near the rotting sign that had the Hylian letters "Lost Woods" carved into its surface. The sky turned back to its natural color, a bright blue with a few white clouds roaming through the sky. The blonde hero in green sat under the tree, looking down at a map of Hyrule, his team mate leaned against the tree's trunk, the tree's shadow casted over half of him. They both had the same thoughtful expression, trying to find a way to move on with their journey. Link pointed at a spot on the map that showed many trees full of life, unlike the dead forest they were at now.

"What about here? The Minish in Minish Woods might know something." Link said.

"That is true, just one obstacle. We can't shrink down anymore." Vaati reminded him.

"Oh, right." Link took his finger off Minish Woods and continued searching the map. Vaati sighed; also trying to find a place to start that would be accessible. It had been a while already since they've finished the maze of Lost Woods and begun planning here. But so far, all they have gotten is where they cannot go anymore.

_This messenger did a good job hiding itself, I'll give it that._ Link thought as he stared at the map. _And we basically have no place to start with the shrinking ability gone._

Vaati sighed in frustration, thinking the same thing. Almost. Half of him thought about Twi, now in the hand of the Shadow Realm, most likely locked up. All because he managed to get away when the Big Guy couldn't. All because his shadow was created, taking her in his place. He looked up at the blue sky, bright as it could be, as if it knew nothing of darkness.

_But not for long. _He thought, _They better not hurt her._

He heard Link sigh again as he scratched his head.

"We're extremely limited." He announced, still looking down at his map of Hyrule. "Do you have any ideas?"

Vaati also sighed as an answer.

"I was afraid so." Link said in reply.

Vaat continued thinking, this time putting full focus on their next move. Still he barely came up with anything. He attempted thinking of things he was taught while serving as the Minish Sage's apprentice. He was taught multiple things, some magic, the country of Hyrule, the gate that separated them from that kingdom, numerous sayings...but nothing allowed him knowledge on his Master's messenger. He cursed in his head.

_We've hit one heck of a wall to give us no clue to where we're supposed to be going. _He thought.

A breeze of wind carefully drifted into the scene.

"Knowledge." it whispered before vanishing from existence.

Vaati quickly glanced around as a single word was placed into his ears. He glanced over at Link, who was still looking to the map as if nothing abnormal had happened. He noticed Vaati's disturbance out of the corner of his eye and glanced up as him.

"Did you...hear something?" Vaati asked.

Link blinked a few times before answering with a No.

"Did you?" He asked, wondering why Vaati was acting weird.

"...Nevermind." Vaati dismissed.

Link shrugged and put his attention back on his map. Vaati thought on what the voice delivered this time. "Knowledge". He remembered a small lesson he was given when he was still living under his Master's roof.

_"Tell me, Vaati, what do you think is a great treasure that can only be obtained by some people?"_

_Vaati looked over at his Master, thinking over the question. He wanted to say strength, since every Minish he saw that displayed strength was usually the top of the food chain. And every Hylian story he read, there was always a character that displayed strength, and usually won whatever the story was about, love, adventure, and sometimes just pure fiction. But his Master wouldn't enjoy that answer. He looked around the room for an answer, all the room had was bookcases and desks._

_"Uhhh..." Vaati began, deciding to take a guess. "Experience?"_

_His Master Ezlo smiled and shook his head._

_"It would seem so, wouldn't it?" He replied. "Knowledge."_

_"Knowledge?" Vaati asked. His Master nodded._

_"Knowledge is a great treasure, but no one is born with it. In order to obtain knowledge, one must be willing to look."_

_Vaati looked around the room again._

_"Is that why you have so many books?"_

Quickly, Vaati looked back down at the map Link was holding. In the center near the top was a patch where buildings stood just below a mighty castle.

"Link," Vaati said, catching the hero's attention, "Hyrule Town has a library, right?"

Link arched an eyebrow before answering.

"Yes."

Vaati took his weight off of the tree, standing on his own.

"I suppose that's our best guess to start then." Vaati confirmed.

"The library?" Link asked, unsure of the role it would play in this adventure.

"That's what I said."

"Why the library?"

"Well, Hyrule Town in general. There are a lot of storytellers there, right?"

Link nodded in reply.

"Then," Vaati continued, "Maybe one of the storytellers may know of a messenger. And if they don't then maybe the library would have a book. We have no place else to start."

Link's head tilted, knowing that Vaati was leaving out a thought.

"What makes you so sure?" He asked.

Vaati shrugged.

"It's just a hunch."

Link sighed, knowing he probably wouldn't get too much information of what he was hiding out of him. He rolled up the old-looking map into a cylinder and stood, showing a confident smile.

"Alright, let's head out!" Link said with confidence to match his smile.

* * *

_**Short chapter, I know. Writer's block struck me again, along with the inability to decide what I wanted to happen in this chapter. I know it's not much romance, but I promise the begining of that genre is going to come sooner or later.**_

_**Well I hope you like it, feel free to review and tell me your thoughts.**_

_**-MidnightTwi**_


	18. Chapter 18: Return to Hyrule Town

It had only been a couple days since they had left town, but it seemed like it had been longer. The festival equipment had all been taken down completely, no balloons, banners, stalls; even the trash was all cleaned up. It was as if the festival had never happened.

_But it did happen. _Vaati thought, looking at the walls of Hyrule Town.

"Alright, I know where a few storytellers live here in Hyrule Town." Link said, looking toward the entrance.

"Good. You need to go find them and get as much information on this messenger as you can."

"Wait, aren't you coming?" Link asked, looking back at Vaati. "You aren't trying to ditch me again, are you?"

"No, I can't come. The festival is well over, the residents remember me well, I don't think I'd exactly fit in."

"Oh...right." Link sighed. He looked as if he were about to say something else until a resident yelled his name. Vaati quickly hid in the shadows of nearby trees, seemingly unnoticed by the resident.

"Link, you're back!" The Hylian said, dressed in a soldier's gear from head to toe, holding a spear in his hand. "Didja slay a lot of monsters? You were gone for a while."

"Umm...yea!" Link quickly said, a little confused.

"That's good! When the Princess informed us that you were going to be gone for a while to search for monsters, we knew you'd give them Hell!"

_So Zelda told them that I was slaying monsters?_Link thought.

"So, how has Zelda been since I was gone?" Link asked, remembering her sudden illness.

"She's been just as she is. She doesn't come into town very much anymore, I wonder why... But she says that she's gotten better since she got sick a few days ago, so I'm sure it's nothing. She probably has to attend royal meetings or something." The soldier said, laughing. "Oh, sorry Link, I can't chat for too long! I'm ganna get an earful if they found out I abandoned my station! But it's good to know you're back!"

Link simply smiled and nodded before the soldier ran back inside the Town to his abandoned station. Vaati came back into view, watching the entrance for other stray soldiers.

"So they must have improved their security." He thought out loud.

"Yea, that means there have probably been more monsters appearing." Link said. Vaati nodded in agreement. Link began to walk toward the entrance before stopping and turning back to Vaati. "Can I ask a favor?"

Vaati waited for him to continue.

"While I go look for information, can you check on Zelda for me?"

"I told you that you were going to worry about her." Vaati said, "Alright."

Link smiled at his partner, thanking him before running into town. Vaati sighed before glancing around him, seeing that there was no one around and lifted himself into the sky. The wind circled him like a tornado, allowing him to "fly" upward. The circling wind blew the longer pieces of his hair into his face, yet didn't disturb him at all. Once he was high enough, he commanded the wind forward toward the castle, unafraid that the people below would recognize him at that distance. To them, it was just another bird in the innocent sky.

He landed on top of the roof of Hyrule Castle, out of sight from the little dots on the ground that were assumed to be people. He walked over to the edge of the roof and stepped off, falling down a few stories before stopping himself beside one specific window, pressing his back to the wall of the castle and forcing the air that separated his hands from the wall out to create a suction that kept him on the wall without the need of using the wind to keep him up, avoiding rattling the windows. He listened carefully to what was going on inside.

"So you're doing alright, Princess?" A familiar female voice asked.

"Yes." A younger female voice - the Princess's - replied.

"The residents of Hyrule Town are starting to wonder why you're not out as much, you know."

"Only my closest soldiers and my Father know I am sick." Princess Zelda said. "Besides you of course!"

"Yea, I know. You don't want the townspeople worrying about you, right?"

"...I don't want them to panic or anything. I've never gotten sick before, and with the monster count slowly rising, they don't need anything else to worry about."

"I understand, Princess Zelda. But you know, with Link around the townspeople don't worry as much." The woman said. "Well, I must go. Take care of yourself!"

"I will, thank you!" the Princess said, followed by the sound of a door opening and closing. He heard Zelda sighed after a few seconds. He pulled his hands off of the wall and knocked on the window, floating in the air. Zelda slightly jumped before looking over at the sound and opening the door, allowing him in.

"What are you doing here? Did Link ever find you?" Zelda asked.

Vaati nodded. "He's in Hyrule Town right now. He asked me to check up on you."

Zelda smiled. "That's just like him. I'm fine. How are you guys doing? Have you found a way to..."

Vaati went quiet for a moment before answering. "We heard of a way, but we came here to get more information...Have...you ever heard of a Messenger of the Sages?"

Zelda thought for a moment, her gloved hand on her chin.

"No, my father never told me about a messenger, and he loves telling me stories like that."

"...Well, we're hoping to find it, so we came here to ask around." Vaati explained.

_But at this rate, we're going to be stuck for a while..._Vaati thought.

"Oh..." Zelda said quietly, noticing the slight defeat and frustration in his eyes. "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll find whatever you guys are looking for, and you'll save Twi too!"

Vaati paused before speaking. "What makes you so sure?"

"Well...you love her, don't you?"

"WHAT?"

Zelda's head tilted slightly. Vaati could feel the temperature of his face get warmer.

"Wh-What makes you think that?" Vaati half asked and half exclaimed.

"Well..." Zelda began, her index finger barely touching her chin. "At the festival, you looked really happy with her. And when Dark You threatened her, you looked extremely ticked off..." She paused to smile innocently at what she believed to be the truth. "You really can't hide it, ya know!"

"B-But!"

"Princess, are you alright?" A voice asked from behind the closed door.

"Oh, yes, I'm ok!" Zelda yelled to the voice before turning her voice to a whisper. "You might want to go before someone finds you."

"Y-Yea..." Vaati agreed, his face still warm. He stepped out the window, the air circling around him to allow him to fly upward and land on top of the roof again. He inhaled after a few moments, thinking over Zelda's beliefs about him.

_She's just thinking like a girl..._Vaati thought to dismiss the conversation he just had.

"Link, you're back!" An elder, wise-looking man said as the country's hero walked to him. "Anything I can help you with?"

Link casually smiled at the elder Hylian.

"Actually, I have a question." Link announced. "You know a lot about myths, would you happen to know about a 'Messenger of the Sages'?"

"'Messenger of the Sages'?...Hmmmm..." The storyteller thought through all of his stories of legends, myths, and mysteries. "I do recall a small myth about a messenger who was trusted by the goddesses and Ancient Sages of Hyrule."

Link's eyes lit up. "Yea that has to be it!" The storyteller smiled.

"Well, all I know is that the messenger is fast, kind, and wise. In fact, it is kind enough to deliver it's own messages to those who's hearts are kind...I think it has a connection to the ancient Hero also. I know there are a few books in the Library that tell of this myth."

Link smiled and nodded. "I'll go there now. Thank you!"

"You're welcome, Link. And good luck!"

Link nodded at the elder, making his way to Hyrule Town's library where the librarian instantly greeted him with a smile before letting him browse for books. Link picked up the first book he saw that were in the "Ancient Legends" bookshelf and flipped through the pages. Mostly the pages were about the ancient Hero who drove away the darkness of a legendary sword, the Picori, and other things he had already known from storytellers. He moved from book to book, scanning through the Tables of Contents or flipping through the pages of each one. Finally, his hand reached a rather large book that was very well aged. Flipping through the Table of Contents, he found a chapter that looked promising.

Vaati leaned on the trunk of a tree, his body casted in shadows. He stared at a small stump with a small star-shaped hole in the middle. A gentle breeze passed by him, blowing his bangs slightly out of his face. He looked up at the blue sky and over in the direction that Twi's house existed. But all that was there now was her mother. He sighed and stood up straight, taking a step in the opposite direction.

"Aren't you going to visit?" a familiar voice said, the same voice he had heard talking to Zelda in the castle. He looked back at the direction of the house, Twi's mother stepped into the opening, showing a caring smile. "I haven't heard from you in a while."

Vaati smiled back. "We just got here."

"We? Oh, that hero boy came with you?" She asked followed by a nod from Vaati. "Well, why don't you come in, I just got home from the castle."

Vaati followed her back to the house, hearing about how she now is Zelda's nurse, she being the only one so that the princess's sickness wont get out.

"So how are you doing?" she casually asked.

Vaati answered with silence. Twi's mother flashed a smile at him.

"You don't need to worry too much about her." She said. "Twi can hold on until you rescue her."

"I hope." Vaati said quietly.

"You know, she hasn't been very excited about moving here to Hyrule until you showed up. Her favorite story was last year's story, actually." Twi's mother said. "When she started having those dreams, I wasn't really sure what to say."

_Dreams? _Vaati thought.

He suddenly recalled what he was told the day he met Twi.

_"I think I'm supposed to help you, so I am. I don't care if they found out cuz I know the truth, and they don't."__  
__Vaati glanced at her.__  
__"What do you mean 'You're supposed to help me'?"__  
__Twi sighed.__  
__"You're ganna think I'm crazy and freakish."__  
__"Well yea, I mean...you're HELPING an evil Wind Mage. Sure you're crazy!" Vaati said before smiling at her.__  
__Geez, I've changed too much in one year, he thought while Twi laughed.__  
__"Well, yea. But..." Her cute princess smile faded. "I've had dreams...but it's nothing."__  
__Vaati stared at her.__  
__Dreams, he thought, about me? Before we met? Before she-or anyone else-knew I was alive?__  
__"But, it doesn't matter. I tend to think differently of stuff."_

"What...kind of dreams?" He asked.

"Oh, yes she probably didn't tell you." Twi's mother said. "She would have these dreams about nothing but a voice. She told me would whisper 'The Wind Mage lives on' over and over. And then after a few nights of that, it adapted to a dream of Picori Woods, and it was like she felt had to go there. Or so she told me, she stopped telling me her thoughts after a while...the imagination of my daughter can be random."

_That was her dream? _He thought, _an image of Picori Woods and a whispering voice?_

_Wait a second...a voice spoke to her?_ He exclaimed in his head, remembering the advice he was given at random points in time.

"I...am sorry your daughter was kidnapped." Vaati apologized randomly.

"You know, I don't think it's your fault she was kidnapped." Her mother said with a smile. "It just touches my heart that you are willing to go and save her like this. I'm sure it'll touch her heart too!" She said, singing the word "too".

Vaati's face felt slightly warmer as Twi's mother laughed.

"I'm sorry, force of habit. But I just hope you know, I am glad you came into our lives. And I'm sure Twi doesn't regret meeting you either."

Vaati stayed silent for a few moments. "I should probably return to the entrance to Hyrule Town and wait for Link."

"Yes, of course." Twi's mother said, nodding. "It's good to know you're alright."

Vaati nodded back and exited out the door, walking toward Hyrule Town, hoping for good news.

Link dashed out of the library, a victorious smile on his face. A few Hylians smiled as he passed them, some of the girls blushed. He could see the exit of the town when he felt a tug on the back of his collar, slightly choking him as he stopped.

"Didn't think about stopping by to say 'Hi'?" A familiar voice asked.

Link looked behind him at his grandpa Smith, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Hehe, sorry. I was in a rush."

Master Smith nodded. "Yes, Princess Zelda told me everything. So you're helping the Wind Mage?"

"Yes." Link answered. "But it's for a good cause!"

"Yes, the Princess told me of that. I, along with the rest of Hyrule, cannot fully trust the sorcerer." Master Smith began, crossing his arms under his white beard and causing Link to look down in disappointment. "But...I trust that you will only do what is good."

Link smiled at his grandfather.

"But next time, you can tell me when you decide to go on another adventure." Master Smith said.

"Yea, sorry about that, grandpa." Link apologized.

"Well, I see you probably must be going. If you two need a place to stay when you're around, I can still offer you that."

Link smiled and nodded. "Thank you!"

He ran at the exit again, this time making it through. He glanced around for Vaati.

_He should be back from the Castle by now, _He thought as he walked into the vacant opening. He soon heard the snap of a stick, followed by Vaati walking into the opening, slightly surprised that Link was already back.

"Either this is bad news or finding where we are going next was easier than I expected." Vaati said.

"It wasn't _completely_ easy! I only found a few books that had information on this Messenger guy...but they were helpful!" Link said.

"Then where are we going next?"

"We are going," Link started, smiling as if he had just gained a victory. "to Castor Wilds!"

* * *

**_Alright! I FINALLY got the next step of the story going, plus an opening of the romance part of the genre! And I already planned what the next few chapters are going to be, so if I may say so myself, I am on a roll! (now watch me jinx it.)_**

**_Sorry I was unactive for a while, I ment to get this up last week while I was on a family vacation, but I didn't now my mom's iPad didn't support posting a new chapter on this website._**

**_Well, review if you feel the need to, I will admit that I do enjoy hearing what you guys think._**


	19. Chapter 19: Hero

The wind was blowing around rapidly in all directions, as if it were in a war in itself. Two bodies fell to Hyrule on a collision course that would lead to deadly results. The wind spun around them, as if they were trapped in a tornado of darkness. He reached out toward her, trying desperately to grab her hand, wrist, anything to keep her safe. Violet hair stung his face as the wind smacked it around, his cape torn and blooded from an unknown reason, but his own blooded eyes focused on the blonde girl falling farther and farther away from him, as if the wind was trying to separate them. No matter what he did, the wind wouldn't stop. Her midnight eyes, full of fear, became too far for him to touch. Her princess-like dress that matched his hair and cape was also torn at the skirt of it; she looked like a real princess in peril. But she wasn't a princess; she was nothing more than a girl who seemed to have a lot of guts to trust an ex-villain. But to him, she was his reason that he was alive, literally. She helped him, knowing of the consequences. And look at them now.

A mirror image of himself showed himself in between them, showing an evil smirk on his face. His red eyes showed evil thoughts and ideas.

"My king will have no problem now with you two gone. Of course with the little hero boy gone as well," he smiled fully, showing one slightly longer pointed tooth. "This will be a peice of cake."

And with that, he vanished, leaving the cosplay princess and ex-villain to fall to their doom.

"Twi!" He yelled over the rush of the wind, still reaching his hands out to her.

She looked into his eyes, showing the fear he felt. Her bottom eyelid was slightly rimmed with tears. He quickly tried brainstorming for any idea that would help them, anything that could save them.

But, while looking at the ground coming closer and closer, his eyes widened.

There was nothing he could do. He couldn't prove himself, he couldn't save Hyrule, and he couldn't save Twi.

_He had failed._

"GAH!" He bolted up from his sleep, finding himself right in front of the sign to Castor Wilds. Right on the ground, no Twi in sight. Instead, a blonde hero lay a few yards away from him, his arm under his head, functioning as a pillow. The hero looked over his shoulder at him, his eyes showing a confused look.

"Vaati?" He asked before clearing his throat to make him sound less tired. "What happened?"

"Nothing." Vaati dismissed it, leaning his back up against the tree he was sleeping against earlier.

The blue-eyed hero raised an eyebrow before sitting up where he laid, showing his hatless and slightly bed-headed hair. His green hat laid beside him, along with his sword, shield, and other equipment.

"I'm having a hard time believing it was nothing." He stated, brushing his hand through his hair.

"Well, it _was_ nothing. Just go back to sleep, Link." Vaati said again, crossing his arms.

Link tilted his head slightly, inspecting Vaati's gloomy and slightly angered expression. His long violet bangs seemed to cover more than half of his face, his one visible red eye just looked down, already in thought. Link hardened his own expression slightly to a more heroic-looking face, an expression he very well mastered.

"It was Twi, wasn't it?" Link asked, putting a softer tone in his voice. He saw Vaati's eye widen by a fraction before it regained its normal appearance. He took that as a yes. "You know, I didn't know her for long, and I hardly know her at all, and even _I_ can see that she had some courage. I mean, come on! She put up with you!" He snickered slightly before looking back at Vaati, who showed no change in emotion whatsoever. His eyebrows dropped. "I have no idea _how_ she put up with you though. You can be pretty depressing at times."

"I don't need some kind of pep talk that I will save her and Hyrule and everything will be fine and no one will hurt her and the whole package." Vaati said before mumbling "I already got that exact talk from both Princess Zelda and Twi's mom yesterday."

"...Yea, I can see how that would be annoying." Link said, thinking over the pep talk he was giving. "But I'm just trying to be a friend here."

_Friend?_ Vaati thought, looking over at Link. Did he hear him right? The hero that had to put up with breaking a curse that HE put upon the Princess, and the hero's best friend, along with carrying around a talking hat that shouted orders all the time, and that Vaati had put through Hell last year and fought him over a mystical force just called him a _friend?_

"What?" The blue-eyed hero asked, confused and slightly creeped out from Vaati's sideways glance at him. Vaati blinked back to reality.

"Nothing."

"Is that your favorite word?"

"Maybe."

Link rolled his eyes in slight annoyance before looking back at his partner. Vaati wasn't looking at him again; instead he found the ground more interesting. Link sighed silently, trying to think of a way to get to him and figure out just what was going on.

_Wow, this is weird._ He thought, rubbing the back of his neck. _Just a few days ago I was at his neck, now I'm trying to help him._ He shrugged it off.

"Are you just going to sit there and stare at me all night, or are you going to go back to sleep?" Vaati asked, slightly annoyed.

"Depends. Are you going to tell me what your nightmare was?"

"It was nothing. I don't even remember it."

Link sighed again.

"I know you don't want a pep talk, but here it goes anyway. I have full confidence that you will defeat your dark self, get past this 'Big Guy' or whatever, and save Twi and possibly Hyrule too. I have full confidence that you will be able to drop the whole 'ex-villain' label you have and become a hero, as well."

"Yea, like the people of Hyrule will accept me as a hero." Vaati said negatively.

"Wow, you are pretty much a pessimist, huh?" Link pointed out before continuing. "But I'm sure they will. I mean, Zelda has, I have, her nurse has...and Twi has."

Vaati seemed to get a softer look in his eye, which Link took as a sign that he was finally getting somewhere.

"I bet that she has full confidence in you, also." Link pressed on before smiling. "I even have confidence that when this whole thing is over, she'll reward you with a kiss!"

He saw Vaati's eye widen slightly again as a small pink blush crept onto his face. He glared at Link with red eyes, a different shade of red still on his pale skin.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Link couldn't help but laugh, but he quickly stopped laughing to avoid any kind of payback he would possibly get later.

"Nothing, I was just kidding." he said quickly. "I couldn't help myself."

He raised an eyebrow slightly, seeing that the pink replacing the usual pale lavender color of his skin was still on his cheeks. Vaati avoided eye contact, which was something Link was used to. But the skin color was new.

"Wait." Link said, causing Vaati to look at him. Link quickly thought over what he was going to say.

"Do you...like Twi?" He finished, causing Vaati's eye to cast downwards again, remaining silent.

_Thinking back to when he put a curse on both Zelda and Ezlo, it's weird to think that Vaati could have a crush on a girl. Not to mention the whole evil fact, I'm not sure if a villain would car about feelings like that._ He quickly shifted thoughts._ But that was last year. Things are different now...much different. The villain is now the hero, the hero is probably the side-kick now...dammit...and the side-kick is the key._

He put his attention back on Vaati's silent answer to his question. The color change of his face was still in existence, and his bloody eye was much softer.

"You do, don't you?" Link asked again, not believing it even when he said it.

"I don't know what that means." Vaati lied.

"Yes you do! You actually like her! I know you do! That's why you act different in front of her or even about her!"

"No, I don't. I don't even know what that feels like."

That much, Link bought. He raised a blonde eyebrow again, tilting his head like a puppy.

"Wait. You don't know?" Link asked, answered by a nod from Vaati. "Well...ummm... How do you feel about her then?"

"What?"

"How does she make you feel?"

"I don't know. Like a Hylian."

Link put on a more determined glare on his face. He was going to get to Vaati if it took all night. Curiosity was a powerful thing, so powerful, in fact, that it killed a feline.

"C'mon. Just tell me and I'll leave you alone." He pushed further.

"Link. You're acting like a girl." Vaati pointed out.

Link just glared at him, but still saw his point. He _was_ acting like a girl who just found out her best friend had a crush or boyfriend and did nothing but pester her about it until satisfied.

"I'm just trying to be a friend."

That caused Vaati to look fully at him again, with another confused look. Link crossed his arms.

"What?"

"Nothing." Vaati said again as a dismissal.

"Just answer the question!"

"Like a hero." Vaati said quickly so that Link could barely make out what he said.

"What?"

Vaati sighed, not really wanting to repeat anything.

"She makes me feel like a hero." He said, causing a shocked expression on Link's face. "The amount of confidence she has makes me almost confident that I can prove myself. If I can't save her, then I'm no hero, no matter how many other people I can save. I want to show the people of Hyrule that I am a hero too, but I want Twi to keep believing in me more than I want Hyrule's approval. There, happy?"

Link was silent for a few moments, letting the information sink in for a bit. He blinked a few times before he spoke again.

"You do like her."

Vaati just inspected the ground again, and for the first time, Link was able to see the full emotion behind the ruby eye.

He saw affection for the girl he was trying to save, along with hope and then mixed into the bloody gaze was another strong emotion. Fear. He was afraid that he wouldn't be able to save Twi, and he will no longer be a hero. At the beginning of the journey, all Vaati wanted was to change his ways and prove that he was no longer evil. Then, in just a few seconds, he met Twi, who made him feel like he could do anything. And then, in just a few seconds, his journey changed from being about him, to being about a strange girl who just wanted to help him.

Link was able to put together the pieces, and figure out that Vaati's nightmare was most likely about loosing Twi. He sighed, lying back down again.

"You'll rescue her, and you'll prove to her that you are a hero." Link said before closing his eyes. "I'm confident in that."

Vaati stared at Link for a moment before looking back at the ground. His thoughts were filled. The hero that slayed him last year was now, apparently, a friend, something he had very few of. And his friend, Twi, was creating new feelings to him about her. He closed his eyes, his thoughts still swimming through his brain.

This adventure was no longer about his reputation. This journey had now shifted meaning to Twi. She was the only thing important.

The journey, and Dark Vaati's kidnapping of Twi, had just gotten personal.

* * *

**_So sorry that I was inactive in this story for so long. I got mildly distracted and procrastinated and also got writer's block. So sorry that the characters seem OOC but I really wanted to fit in a chapter of Vaati's feelings toward Twi to get the romance parts going. I based Vaati's unknown to him feelings off of me, and Link's persistance off of my best friend, since it was the only way I'd know how to write this XD_**

**_So, I hope you enjoy. Review if you want, give me advice if you want, or critisize if you want._**

**_-MidnightTwi_**


	20. Chapter 20: Castor Wilds

Vaati stared out at the gloomy unappealing sight of Castor Wilds, standing on a small ground platform surrounded by a lake of green, thick, goopy liquid. Clouds dimmed the sunlight above, making it even more gloomy and dull. Vaati looked over at Link standing next to him, who was looking at the sight with disgust and almost sadness.

"I've never liked this place." He stated, causing Vaati to raise an eyebrow. "It's always so...gross and depressing. The pollution was the evil responsible for this."

Vaati glanced at the polluted water before looking back at the sad look in Link's eyes.

"Well, the sooner we find what we need here, the sooner we can leave." He said, followed by a nod from Link.

"Right."

"So, what exactly are we looking for here?"

Link thought for a moment, his blue eyes looking skyward.

"Good question. I only found a total of 3 books with chapters on the Messenger of the Sages, and they all said that the artifacts found regarding the Messenger were all found here. So I figured coming here was our best chance, plus it was the only place that is known to connect to the sage."

"So we don't know what to look for or where to look and if we find nothing here, we're screwed." Vaati said, summing up what they were both thinking.

"Yea, pretty much."

"Great. Was there any riddles or hint or something about this guy?"

Link thought for a moment, thinking over the chapters he read and shook his head. Vaati sighed, glancing around the Wilds, looking for a place to start looking.

"What were the artifacts and where were they found?" He asked, waiting for Link to think and answer.

"One was a fossilized medallion of some kind. I think it was found in the wall of a cave." Link answered, pausing for more information to return to his brain. "And another was a carving of a wing that was supposed to symbolize the Messenger or something, also found in a cave."

"A wing?" Vaati thought out loud.

"Yea. I guess it's because it delivered messages everywhere for the Sages and Hero of Time, I guess." Link said, shrugging. "And those are the only artifacts I read about."

Vaati thought over the artifacts found. The medallion was common for a Sage, it symbolized their power and wisdom, and the wing was to symbolize him in general.

"Well, I guess we should look in caves, since those both were found in caves. And it's the only lead we have."

Link nodded, sitting on the ground to equip brown boots similar to the ones he always wears but instead with yellowish wings on the ankles of them.

"How about you take one half and I take the other, that way we get done faster."

Vaati nodded, facing in the northern direction, getting ready to take off before Link spoke up again.

"Good luck." He said, standing up with the new style of boots on. Vaati looked over his shoulder at him.

"You too."

Link broke into a quick sprint, running on the surface of the goop to the other platform. Vaati shrugged and walked across, the wind around him hovering him barely over the surface to give the illusion of walking on polluted water. Link rolled his eyes.

_Show-off._

Link walked into yet another cave, bow and arrow in hand incase he encountered another animated statue. Hours had passed since he and Vaati started, and he had turned up empty-handed. Most of these caves he had explored last year when he had walked into Castor Wilds for the first time, and he didn't really think to take note of where the explored caves were, so he had no idea if he had been there or not. But this was most likely the last cave on his side of Castor Wilds, and he hoped that he'd at least find something valuable. He held is lantern in a little higher to light more, looking along the walls, ceiling, and floor for something that looked out of place or odd or anything. As he walked further, he smacked his sword on the surface of the walls, testing to hear if it sounded hollow enough for there to be another cave connecting to it. It all sounded and looked the same. He sighed.

_Great.__Another__dead__end...and__here__I__thought__we'd__finally__get__further__in__our__journey..._ He shook his head as if to shake away the negative thoughts. _Maybe__Vaati__found__something._

He turned around to exit the cave, the light catching the dark corner of the dead end.

"Hmm?" Link said out loud, holding the lantern back at the corner, seeing a different color on the brown rock. He inched closer, inspecting the corner, seeing a faded diagram carved into the rock.

_YES__I__FOUND__SOMETHING!_He yelled in his mind, a smile returning to his face. _But...what__exactly__did__I__find?_

He tried to make sense of the wall art. A straight horizontal line divided the picture in half. On the top half showed an eye-looking thing. The picture was so faded he could barely see what it was. On the bottom half was the same, but not as faded eye picture as the top with a hole behind it. Link arched an eyebrow.

_That's...odd...__What__is__it__even?_

He sighed again. Just a cave drawing of a bored early man. He continued walking out of the cave, into the gloomy light of the outside Wilds, and proceeded back to the entrance where Vaati was already sitting. Link quickly, with the help of the boots, ran across the goopy lake to the platform, looking down at Vaati with hope.

"Find anything?" He asked casually as Vaati looked up at him.

"No. Did you?"

Disappointment crashed down as Link just lowered his gaze.

"No. Just a weird picture."

"Picture?" Vaati asked, arching an eyebrow. "What picture?"

Link tilted his head slightly, wondering why Vaati showed interest in a cave drawing. But he unsheathed his sword and drew a straight line in the ground and an eyeball on both top and bottom.

"It looked something like this...with a hole behind the eye in the bottom half." He paused to draw the hole. "Did you see any ledges or something like that?"

Vaati inspected the drawing, also tilting his head.

"No...but..." He paused, making Link curious as to what he was thinking. "I don't think this is a cave drawing...Doesn't it look like a riddle?"

Link looked back down at the picture, somewhat seeing the riddle quality, but at the same time, not seeing it.

"Alright, what would it be for?"

Vaati shrugged.

"It's called a riddle for a reason."

"Wait, so I actually found something?" Link asked, feeling pride in himself.

"Maybe. We don't know that yet."

"You just love crushing my spirits, don't you?"

"Old habits die hard." Vaati said with a smirk before turning his attention back to the drawing.

He tried his hardest to remember if he had seen any kind of ledge that looked like this, but found no memory of such. He sighed, trying to make sense of it.

_Maybe__it's__not__a__ledge__but__something__else?_He thought. _But__what?__Ugh,__now__would__be__a__great__time__for__that__voice__to__help__me__out__here._

"Surface..." The wind seemed to whisper.

_Speak__of__the__devil._ Vaati thought, _But__not__exactly__helpful.__What__is__that__supposed__to__mean?_

He scanned the picture, using the hint "surface" to try and figure out the riddle. But, surface to what, he didn't know. Link sighed, frustrated with not being able to figure something out.

"Why must everything be difficult?" He asked, not really expecting an answer. "Why does the universe hate us?"

He sat down next to his drawing, picking up a clump of dirt that could probably pass for a rock and throwing it onto the goopy liquid surrounding them, watching as it slowly sunk down to who-knows-where. Vaati looked at the liquid where the dirt clump used to be then back down at the drawing, specifically the horizontal line.

_Surface,_He thought, _like__the__surface__of__water._

He stood up, vaguely remembering a story his master once told him. Link looked up at him, curious.

"How deep do you think this lake is?"

Link blinked a few times. "What?"

"Do you know how deep this place is?" Vaati said again, walking closer to the edge of the platform. Link's eyes widened as he quickly got up, putting himself between Vaati and the sludge, his arms held out as if he had the power to stop people in their tracks.

"Whoa, Vaati, I know you're probably frustrated, but suicide is not the answer! You have your whole life ahead of you, and-" He stopped, noticing the half-lidded glare Vaati was giving him. "Oh...that's not what you were talking about, was it?"

Vaati simply shook his head, Link dropped his hands and looked at him before speaking again.

"Then what's on your mind?"

"I was thinking...what if the line cutting the picture in half isn't a ledge, but the surface of the lake?"

Link just stared at him, understanding what he was saying but not understanding his point. Vaati sighed, glancing around before looking back to Link.

"Can you just tell me if you remember seeing an eye or something that looked like an eye near the edge of the ground close to the water...or whatever this liquid could be called?"

"You mean like those animated statues that are around here?"

Vaati blinked, looking back at the picture then back at Link.

"That might be what those eye symbols are supposed to be."

Link nodded. "Yea, I think I saw one close to the lake over where I was looking. C'mon."

Link ran across the sludge in the direction he was given earlier to search, Vaati close behind, until they reached a platform that held up a grey, mossy statue with one, huge eye taking up most of the space. Link pulled back an arrow and fired, landing a direct hit right into the pupil of the statue, causing it to tremble and jump towards them. Link quickly fired more arrows, each landing into the monster's eye, and eventually causing it to crumble before them into pebbles. Right behind where it stood, the surface of the sludge-lake was shown. Vaati nodded, assuming and hoping this was the place and that he was right. Link joined his side near the edge of the platform.

"So, now what?" He asked, looking at Vaati for an answer.

"Now we just hope I'm right." Vaati said, taking another step closer to the edge of the platform, holding his arms out with the palms of his hands pressing against each other. Upon seperating them, the wind followed the movement, slicing through the thick liquid and opening it right before them, revealing an old, creepy-looking stairway that led down to a dark object. The wind turned cold to freeze the liquid slightly, keeping it up and away from dropping onto the staircase. Link took the first step down onto the stairway, looking at the goopy walls in awe.

"Good job parting the Green Sea, Vaati." He complemented, looking downward at the shadowy, unmoving figure at the bottom. Vaati looked at the top of the sludge walls, the liquid already starting to sink in, but due to its thickness and the freezing wind he commanded to it, they had some, although limited, amount of time to get what they need and get out. Vaati walked ahead of Link, who also began to take notice and followed, walking closer to the dark object that waited at the bottom.

A giant, unmoving eye waited on the face of another unanimated statue, its body tiny compared to its head. Link quickly pulled back on the string of his bow, an arrow in hand, and released, lunging the arrow at the statue's eye, and with a _ping!_ it bounce right back off of its stone surface. Both Link and Vaati stared at it, waiting for it to awaken. After a few seconds, Vaati looked back at Link who was beginning to string another arrow. Like before, the arrow bounced off again after landing a direct hit into the pupil of the statue, and the statue stayed unmoving.

"I don't think its a monster." Link said, putting his bow onto his back next to his quiver. "I think it's an actual statue."

Vaati walked beside it, seeing a small opening behind it. He glared at the statue.

"Well, then we have to move it like a statue. There's a cave behind it."

He began pushing his back against it, hoping to move the statue away but with no success. Link walked to his side and placed his hands on it, pushing along with him, still with no success.

"I thought you were good at pushing objects around!" Vaati said as they pushed.

"Yea, well me too!"

As they pushed, a golden light began to shine, causing Link to look down at the source, his left hand. His birthmark began to glow, and within seconds the statue's left hand mimicked. Vaati looked over at Link, his eyes widening slightly at the sight. Suddenly, the statue spontaneously budged, sending them both to the ground. Link watched as his birthmark stopped glowing, along with the statue's, making it seem like nothing ever happened. Vaati sat up, looking down at Link.

"You have a triangle birthmark?"

Link sat up, still looking at the back of his left hand where his birthmark laid, a triangle formed by three other triangles, a symbol he had seen before in Hyrule Castle.

"Yea, but it's never done _that_ before!"

Vaati remained silent for a moment, staring at the triangle birthmark, before standing back up and facing the cave that had just been opened for them.

"Well, whatever that was, it did open the cave. Let's just get in there, get whatever we need, and get out so we can worry about your weird magical tattoo-looking birthmark later."

Link nodded. "Good plan."

* * *

_**Finally got out of writer's block. Now I'm back on track and I finally got to the points I've been wanting to get to since chapter 10! XD**_

_**Also, I originally wasn't going to put in the religious "Green Sea" joke (referring to the Red Sea in which Moses parted for the slaves), but I just couldn't help myself. I apoligize if you think I am making fun of it because I am not, and I also apoligize if you are not religous.**_

_**Well, review if you want, if you don't then you don't have to. it's called Free Will for a reason.**_

_**-MidnightTwi**_


	21. Chapter 21: Cave of Secrets

The duo walked into the dark cave that was hidden behind the statue. Vaati switched every once in a while from looking ahead to glancing around the cave walls and ceiling. Link held the lanturn needed for light in his left hand, and he would occasionally glance at his birthmark on the back of his hand, remembering the strange sensation that he felt when it glowed spontaniously. He felt power, like he could do anything, the skin where the mark existed was tingling, like when a limb falls asleep and gets rudely waken up. Yet, even though all of this was new to him, it felt oddly familiar, as if he always had that happen. He shook his head.

_Impossible._ He thought, looking back ahead into the darkness. _It may look like the symbol of Hyrule, but it's just a birthmark. The statue was the one that glowed and the light reflected off of my hand. ...right?_

He sighed, remembering Vaati's plan. Get whatever what was in here and worry about what had happened later. Soon, the light caught the surface of a wall, the end of the cave. Link raised the lanturn higher, revealing the secrets the cave held locked away behind a strange statue only found by a riddle and some wind magic.

A wing, the symbol Link now recognized as the symbol for the messenger, was carved deeply into the rock in the center of the wall. Whoever carved it obviously wanted it to withstand anything, the design was so advanced, the detail was so great, Link could actually see the chisel marks in the rock that still existed after who knows how long this design had been there. He could even see the individual feathers within the wing, and with the light of the flame catching the chisel marks, he could see that the shadows showed a design on the wing, as if the wing belonged to a particular bird. Once he got past the breathtaking view that belonged to just the wing, he fixed his attention on the rest of the wall. There was something written in ancient Hylian directly below the wing, and below that was another carving, this time instead of being carved in, the rest of the wall was carved out, showing the 3D object. Link turned his attention on the writing, leaning in closer to read it.

"What does it say?" Vaati asked, indicating that he wanted Link to read out loud. Link looked at his confused expression over his shoulder.

"What, don't like reading it for yourself?"

Vaati glanced away slightly as he replied.

"Minish Hylian is slightly different than the Hylian you read. Master taught me to read some Hylian from the bigger world, but I'm a little rusty." He admitted. "You know, plotting on taking over the world, actually trying to take over Hyrule, then a year in prison...it doesn't exactly add time to study, and Master always said 'If you don't use it, You loose it'."

Link blinked a few times, nodding in understanding. Sometimes he forgot Vaati grew up as a Minish, and he also sometimes forgot that the Minish were a completely different race, as well as a completely different country even though they lived in the same Hyrule as himself. He directed his attention back to the writing on the wall.

"Alright," He began, preparing to read. "_The Legend of The Messenger of the Sages: In the darkest years of Hyrule's history, there hath been a hero whom hath traveled through time to save thy country of Hyrule from the pitch black evil that enveloped it. However, the Hero of Time hath gained help from the Sages of Hyrule, along with another unincluded Sage known as the Messenger. The Messenger of the Sages was as wise as any could be, fast as the wind could get, and as kind as a newborn child. He was given tasks and requests by Sages and great spiritual leaders, his great moment in known Hylian history is thy great Hero of Time. The Messenger hath guided the hero to his destiny by order of both the Sages and a great spiritual leader of the forest, along with his own intentions to help the good of Hyrule. Even when it hath not been a request to be taken out, he would give messeges to those who's minds were clean and hearts set to good reasons. Within the centeries, he hath faded into the darkness of history, waiting to once again be called upon to assist the new hero."_

Link paused a moment, staring at the inscription. Vaati raised an eyebrow.

"A history lesson?" he asked, unimpressed. Link shrugged, moving the lanturn further down to the 3D object that had been sculpted from the rock.

"Well there's this thing." Link said, bringing Vaati's attention to the object. "Whatever this is."

Vaati looked harder at the carved object, seeing more of the detail that it possessed. It was a simple object, a small outline of a wing was carved into it's surface, along with deeper holes that seemed to have a role in the design.

"It is a flute?" he asked, causing Link to shrug.

"I don't know why'd they would carve a flute here. This is dedicated to the Messenger of the Sages and the Hero of Time, right?"

"Well, the Hero of Time _was_ a musician." Vaati informed. Link just blinked.

"No way."

"Yea, little known fact to you humans." Vaati said, rolling his eyes. "He played a type of flute, I think. Even in Minish history the details are sketchy."

Link blinked again before turning his attention to the flute again.

"Do you think this serves a purpose?"

"Well," Vaati shrugged, "It probably wouldn't be locked up in here if it weren't important."

Vaati looked back to the entrance, remembering they had limited time before te sludge would cover their escape. He looked at the flute and back at Link, who was re-reading the script above it.

"Just take the flute and let's go." Vaati commanded, making Link jump slightly.

"...why are you telling _me_ to take it?"

"Does it matter?"

Link just gave vaati a sideways glance before taking ahold of the flute, tugging it gently in fear of breaking it. After a while of no progress, he resorted to pulling on it fully, his eyes closed closed in concentration of his strength. Unknown to him, the wing on the wall gave off a slight yellow glow and ithin seconds the flute detached itself from the cave wall and the faint glow vanished, but didn't go unnoticed by Vaati, who's suspicions were proven correct. Link ended up falling on his butt once the flute gave away, and usually one would be embarrassed, but his emotions were stalled by the spot were the flute used to be, now occupied by more writing.

"H-How?" Both Link and Vaati stuttered, but for different reasons.

Link quickly got up, snapping Vaati out of his thoughts, and walked closer to the writing.

"'When thou needs assistance of the Messenger of old, play the flute in the greens from whense the Hero of Time began.'

Where is that, even?" Link said out loud.

Vaati took one more glance at the cave wall before looking back at the entrance, suddenly feeling very paranoid.

"We should get out of here first."

Link looked back at Vaati's serious expression, nodding in agreement. They dashed out of the cave, the flute held tightly in Link's possesion, and upon reaching the exit, the slime was already within a few feet of attacking the entrance, blocking the staircase that allowed them down there. The green sludge was no longer frozen, that fact allowing it to advance quicker than before.

Without giving time for anyone else to think of a better plan, Vaati grabbed Link's arm and flew into the air, ignoring Link's confused protests, and landed them both on the ground where the hidden staircase began. The both watched the goo quickly consume the cave, making it seem as if it never existed in the first place. Link blinked, looking down at the flute that proved of its existance before glaring at Vaati.

"Thanks for the warning, by the way."

Vaati shrugged. "Anytime."

* * *

_**First, I would like to apoligize for any typos, mispellings, or wrong definitions used in this chapter. My computer crashed over December and mother has yet to install Microsoft Word, which is the only editor I've used this whole time. So now, you guys will have to function as my editor! Hurrah for you. I originally was ganna make this chapter longer but I got impatient.**_

_**Now, I would put in this long story why I took so long to post again, but I'm tired of doing that so I'll cut to the chase. ahem...I lost motivation.**_

_**But I found it on my birthday on Jan 24 and realized...I'm a 16 year old teen girl who has lost the only life she had. So, I returned to my "life" which consisted of DA and Fanfics.**_

_**Well, in case ya'll were wondering (which I'm sure you weren't) I passed my driver's test (i only missed 6 points out of 35 SUCK IT!).**_

_**Wellp, if you find any mistakes please tell me of them.**_

_**-MidnightTwi**_


	22. Chapter 22: How Heroes Fall

"Alright," Link began, examining the flute closely. "So this 'greens where the Hero of Time came from' or whatever is where we need to go for this thing to work? ...Why can't anything be anti-riddle for once?"

Vaati just simply shrugged, watching Link examine the brown cave-art, glancing over his shoulder every once in a while. Link, however, being the experienced traveling hero he is, got right on the next mission.

"So, we have to go to someplace green?" He asked, pulling out his map. Vaati nodded as Link smoothed the map down on the ground.

"I think it means green as in plant life or a forest of some sort."

Link nodded. "Yea, that makes sense. So we have Castor Wilds...that's pretty green but not much life...same with Wind Ruins. Trilby Highlands and Western Wood have a lot of life and greens. The border of Hyrule Town has the same amount, and Minish Woods...well it's a woods."

"We'd have to find the one that the Hero of Time came from though. That was the second part of the riddle."

Link just blinked expectantly at the red stare. After a pause of silence Vaati raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

"Well, I don't know much about the Hero of Time's origin, Mr. 'I-grew-up-with-a-minish-sage-as-my-teacher'!" Link said with slight jealousy.

Vaati just rolled his eyes in response muttering "Humans..." before thinking back into his knowledge.

"Well, I do remember a story that I had heard a while back. It told that the Hero of Time came from the woods at the mere age of a child when he started his quest. But it didn't say of the name of the woods and even if it did, it has been centuries since the Hero's quest. Names have probably changed."

Link nodded, soaking in the new information and looking back at the map.

"Alright. Then we'll search the wooded areas first."

Vaati kept looking over his shoulder, glancing paranoid red eyes in all direction, scanning the shadows as if it were to animate and come alive right before his eyes. Link just glanced around, confused when he noticed Vaati's state of paranoia and eventually smiled at him.

"Hey, relax." He said in a soft tone, catching Vaati's attention. "I think you're still shook up from that nightmare last night. You're acting really paranoid."

Vaati just set his eyes downward at the mention of the nightmare that made him realize his real motive, slightly blushing. He had felt eyes on them ever since they received the flute, and has been unable to shake that creepy feeling since. Instinct told him to stay on his toes while his mind told him he was just being paranoid like Link said. He sighed, avoiding and hiding the impulse to keep checking for any threats.

"Sorry."

Link just smiled, arching an eyebrow as well. "It's alright. I get it. Now, should we start with the Western Wood areas then?"

Vaati nodded as Link stood up, rolling the map into a cylinder and putting both the flute and the map in with the rest of his equipment. The duo maneuvered over the sludge, landing on actual land ever so often, and soon were walking out of Castor Wilds and into the contradicting woods that led to the sludge madness. Much to Vaati's relief, no attacks were found. That didn't shake the paranoia though.

"Alright, so shall we just start here? It's a green forest." Link asked, followed by a nod from Vaati. Of course, they weren't sure how exactly they would know when they found the desired location.

They had only walked a few yards when a voice crept into Vaati's pointed ear. The wind blew slightly as it carried the voice to him, which by now was something he was used to. But this time, it wasn't a message. It was a laugh, an evil chuckle actually, that he very well knew. This wasn't the helpful voice he had become slightly dependent on, this was his voice. Or something close to his voice.

Vaati's eyes widened immediately after the sound was detected and he froze in his tracks. Link walked a few more steps before noticing his ally's absence and turned around, a big question mark practically floating above his head. After a few seconds, he showed a friendly smile, his eyebrows arched upwards in slight concern.

"Ok, Vaati, seriously. You're getting too paranoid. You look like a freakin cat for crying out loud with that wide-eyed look!"

"Be quiet." Vaati simply commanded, his eyes glancing through the trees even tough all of his focus was on sounds.

Link blinked a few times, also glancing around.

"Vaati?" He asked quietly. "What do you know that I don't?"

Before Vaati could answer, the wind around them rapidly picked up, tearing loose leaves from the trees and showing the direction of the wind. Vaati quickly turned around, facing the source that by now he already knew what it really was. Link quickly ran back to put himself beside the violet hero in the making. The leaves showed that the wind began circling in a tornado-like style a few yards away from them. In the center, a black figure dissolved into view, black hair blowing in the wind and a red eye glaring back at them; his bangs occasionally revealing a second eye as it blew away and back into his face. The tornado wind suddenly stopped circling and blew in the opposite direction than before, blowing Link and Vaati's bangs back until the wind passed and allowed it to fall back into place. The gothic-looking Vaati quickly dissolved out of black and grey tones into color, or to be more specific, the darker shades of Vaati's colors.

"I apologize for my earlier appearance. My King rather I stay in the colors of the Shadow realm, but I find that boring." Dark Vaati greeted, showing what he thought was a friendly smile but in reality was an evil, devious smile.

"Just what are you here for?" Link asked coldly.

"How rude!" Dark Vaati exclaimed, crossing his arms, seemingly pouting. "What if I just stopped by to talk?"

"I highly doubt that." Vaati replied as cold as Link did before, maybe even colder. "You were following us."

"What? I had watched your limp body fall from our spot in the sky into the forest, and suddenly I find you in an old run-down lake in one piece, with the blonde hero we hated. Of course I was curious."

"Curiosity killed the cat." Link informed.

"Now what do you really want?" Vaati asked, pausing slightly. "And where is Twi?"

"Oh her?" Vaati asked, obviously bored. "You can't seriously be worried about that Hylian girl! Where's your pride?"

"Where is she?" Vaati replied with more venom than before.

"Oh she's LOADS of fun!" Sarcasm was dripping with his words. "Honestly, I do not see what you see in her. She just sits around and stares out at the Shadow Realm, doesn't even make conversation with her captor! My, is she rude!"

Vaati flashed a devious smirk, almost looking like Dark Vaati in his expression. "Glad she gives you a bad time."

"Why is everyone rude now?" Dark Vaati asked, rolling his eyes. "Maybe I should make her mine. That'd be sure to tick you off, now wouldn't it?"

Vaati simply glared daggers at his dark counterpart, who laughed in reply.

"Of course I wont, though. That'd be too...predictable, too dramatic. I'm not the dramatic type."

"You're windy entrance said otherwise." Link said, causing Dark Vaati to cast his glance at him.

"Hmmm...touche."

"What do you really want? You're not here to taunt us. You would've done that by now." Vaati asked.

"Alright, since this little conversation of ours isn't amusing you, I'll get to the point. I know you are planning to take back your...or should I say our little princess?"

He paused for Vaati to growl at him.

"And I'm not yet ready to let her run off. At first I assumed it would be easy to keep you two away, but when my King requested I keep tabs on you and I had to come and make progress reports, well I must say I am surprised. It seems some force of Hyrule has allowed you to find a way to her, now hasn't it? So now that I've answered your question, you can answer mine. What role does that flute play in this?"

"What?" Link asked. "Can't figure it out yourself? You could use some reasoning skills."

"That important, huh?" Dark Vaati asked, ignoring the taunt. "Well, I can't have you getting in the way of our plans, now can I?"

Before the heroes could respond, Dark Vaati put his hands close together, like he was holding a ball between them, and a sphere of black energy formed, ready to be released. Vaati and Link quickly stepped away from each other as the attack went between them, Link bringing his blade into the light and Vaati making a movement like he was throwing some sort of ninja star, but instead a disc of dark purple magic made itself known, flying towards the demon. Said demon swiftly dodged out of the way, smirking back at the team.

"What do ya say, pal? Round 2 of what we had going on back near Hyrule Castle?"

Link quickly yelled to Vaati, catching his attention before he could fly to Dark Vaati and challenge him again.

"He's trying to get us to separate! He knows we're more of a challenge together." Vaati nodded at Link in a silent reply that they'd fight together.

"So that's a no?" Dark Vaati asked, pretending to be sad. "Oh well. I'm getting lazy, I need a small challenge."

He threw another energy ball at Link and Vaati in a similar fashion as before, and like before the results were the same. After dodging, Link quickly ran at the shadow and swung his sword vertically downward. Dark Vaati simply held his index finger in the blade's way, and the deadly sword stopped just a hair away from his skin. Link's eyes widened as he tried to press the blade harder with no progress.

"I've learned some new tricks since we've last met." He simply said, the sorcery he was using unaffecting his energy.

"So have I." A voice said behind him.

He turned his head in time to see Vaati rushing towards him, his fist radiating energy. Quickly thinking, he threw the finger he was using to keep Link in place around towards the attack, Link getting thrown along with it and ending up stopping Vaati's comeback.

"Dammit." Vaati mumbled, getting off of the ground, followed by Link who had bounced off of him and fallen beside him. Dark Vaati taunted him with the trademark laugh.

"Impressive, I must admit."

The dark one put himself in a different stance, his feet planted firmly on the ground and his left hand over his chest resting on his right shoulder, same as the right hand with the left shoulder, and breathed in deeply. Without giving too much time for the Hylian and Hylian-turned Minish, he swung both arms outward, a horizontal line of deep red making its way towards them. Both flinched slightly but recovered, Link ran at it and somersaulted under it, Vaati simply jumped up and over it, both landing side-by-side. They glanced at each other before Link ran at Dark Vaati and swinging his sword again, attempting to make the same thing as before happen. But of course, this villain was a step ahead of them. Before Link could get too close, Dark Vaati simply stuck his arm out open-palmed toward Link, who suddenly froze by some unknown power. Before anyone could even bat an eyelash, Dark Vaati smirked and threw his arm up, and Link's body followed his command, flying into the sky.

Vaati quickly flew into the sky after the hero that had flown a good distance upwards and was now falling downward. Dark Vaati's smirk widened as he followed.

Vaati quickly hooked his arms under Link's, holding him up in the air.

"Dammit, he's good." Link cursed.

"...You really need to put on some weight or something if you're that light." Vaati pointed out kiddingly but the glare never left his face. Dark Vaati flew infront of them, his arms crossed cooly. Without another word, he threw another ball of energy at them, Vaati smoothly dodged it with them both unharmed.

"Dammit, he planned this all." Vaati informed, glancing behind him as Dark Vaati was close behind, flying after them. Link glanced down at the Four Sword in his hand before his face lit up.

"I have an idea."

Dark Vaati tailed them for a while before Vaati swiftly turned around and charged at and past him, the air around him knocking Dark Vaati backwards slightly. He quickly recovered and faced his light self who was floating patiently, waiting for another attack, which Dark Vaati was glad to deliver. He put himself in the same hand to opposite shoulder pose and threw another threatening-looking red slash mark toward them, which Vaati easily avoided by flying upwards, allowing Dark Vaati to give chase again. But suddenly a green body was rushing downwards, and with Dark Vaati's speed he was unable to avoid the blade tearing through his shoulder as the hero fell from above. During Vaati's descending journey to catch Link again, he threw an energy ball similar to Dark Vaati's at him, hitting him in the same shoulder. Dark Vaati pressed a hand to his wound, growling and glaring in a new hatred.

Vaati quickly was able to catch up to Link, but instead of catching him this time he commanded the wind to keep Link floating like he did for himself. With slightly difficulty, Link was able to twist his body in a standing position, glancing around him at the invisible air and eventually looking down at Hyrule below.

I_ can't believe we've flown so far over Hyrule. Now it looks like we're over Minish Woods._ Link thought, the land below now looking more like his map.

"He didn't see that coming, did he?" Link said more in a statement than in a question.

"Don't get cocky yet. He can still have some tricks up his sleeve."

Dark Vaati made his way infront of the duo quicker than should be possible, his hands already holding an energy ball weapon. Without giving Vaati and Link time to register the danger, he attacked, causing the bodies of two heroes to be "thrown" in random directions. Link slowly opened his eyes, the attack had hit them directly and knocked the awareness right out of him. But as he saw the trees getting bigger and bigger by the second, it came back to him. He glanced around for the body of Vaati, but was unable to locate it in the rushing wind. He looked back down at the ground and closed his eyes, not wanting to see the grass the millisecond before he died.

A soft song played around him, making him glance around in confusion. The song was high-pitched, and it almost hurt his ears to listen, almost like listening to a whistle. Nonetheless, it was beautiful. He remembered rumors that one would hear a soft song before they met their death. He looked back down, the trees even bigger now. It was only a matter of seconds...

Suddenly, the wind around him stopped rushing by.

It didn't take long for Vaati to come back to his senses after the attack. He swiftly made a graceful U-turn upward, his eyes scanning for the familiar green tunic. Not long after he recovered, his mirror image appeared infront of him, grabbed him by the collar, and instead of another magic attack, he sent a good old-fashioned fist to the face. Vaati quickly countered with a kick to the stomach, forcing Dark Link to bend slightly and release his collar at the pain and force. Vaati took that small amount of time to scan for Link again, still finding no trace of his ally.

Din dammit, Link don't tell me you picked NOW to- Vaati's thoughts were interrupted by a sharp pain echoing through his head. His vision became blurry and he lost concentration on his wind sorcery, falling downward. Dark Vaati remained in the air, but with the bloody gash through his shoulder and his posture still slightly bent with an arm over his stomach, he didn't look as victorious as he should've. But nonetheless, he still could smile deviously.

Vaati was conscious the whole way down, but his thoughts were still fuzzy from the pain, which didn't allow him to concentrate on his magic to save him. He fell face upwards to the sky, staring at the blue wonderland.

_C'mon, wake up!_ He told himself. _Get up! Save yourself! This is the second time Dark Vaati has made you fall! Get up!_ Still he didn't respond. _Twi's counting on you! Hyrule's counting on you!_ Again, nothing. _You quitter! What would Master think? He didn't believe in quitting._ Nothing but the sound of the wind. _You're just like everyone in the Minish World thought. You're..._

_You're a failure._

* * *

**_Uh-oh, how's Link and Vaati ganna get outta this one? *trollololol*_**

**_Yay, I got the word count up again! Hopefully most of the difficulties with this will be behind me, because I'm ready to write!_**

**_Well, review if you're still here. Not sure if many people still read this, to be honest. XD_**

**_-MidnightTwi_**


	23. Chapter 23: The Messenger and The Voice

Consciousness was close to leaving him, until he hit the surface of something that he had thought was the ground, until he realized he was still alive and unharmed. Well, not more harmed than he already was. He opened his eyes and stared at the sky, noticing he was laying on his back. He scanned the sky and found his dark twin, staring at him with a look of surprise and anger. Next, he glanced to his left and right, noticing how soft whatever he fell on was. A large brown limb raised upward beside him, covered in brown feathers that matched what he was laying on. The wings flapped downward and he felt the bird creature gain slight altitude. Then a familiar voice made itself known.

"Hey, Vaati. You ok up there?"

At first Vaati had thought it was his inner voice returning to him, but within a second he recognized the voice completely. He quickly sat up and looked downward over the bird's body, a hero's blue eyes looked up at him.

"Great, you're alive!"

"My thoughts exactly." Vaati replied, somewhat relieved to see his ally in one piece. "My second thought, what the hell am I on?"

Link rolled his eyes, talons holding him up by his arms. Before he could answer, another voice joined the conversation.

"We should probably have his conversation later, young heroes." An owl's head looked back at Vaati, massive eyebrows flowing in the breeze. "If I am not mistaken, we have a dark one on my tail."

Both Vaati and Link looked back at Dark Vaati flying towards them, anger practically radiating off of his face. Vaati quickly snapped out of his shock and returned the glare.

"Hey, Vaati. Do you think you have enough in you to send him back to the Shadow Realm?" Link asked, his battle face on.

"This is the second time that shadow beat me in my own element. Do you really have to ask?" Vaati quickly stood on his knees, facing Dark Vaati's direction while keeping himself on the owl's back, holding his arms straight out infront of him with his palms open, the edge of his thumbs touching each other as power began building in him, magic radiating from his hands. He saw Dark Vaati's glare harden, gaining speed. He gave his dark self one last glare before he released the power from his hands and sent a ball of dark purple energy speeding towards him, with his speed Dark Vaati couldn't have a chance of dodging it. He was hit in the same shoulder Link had kindly tore open earlier, causing him to curse and hold his throbbing arm. He stopped, sending one more glare at his foe before having to accept that he had lost this one. With hatred and revenge on his face, he dissolved into darkness.

Vaati smirked in victory as he watched himself run away. For once, he had won. Small victory, yes, but it gave him satisfaction and motivation that his next victory would be when he had Twi back in the light world. He turned his attention back on Link.

"Now, what exactly did you do?"

Link attempted to shrug, but since his shoulders were being held up by talons, he just replied with a "I don't know." The owl that had aided them flew downwards into Minish Woods, keeping himself a few feet above the ground as he gently placed Link back on land and then landed on a nearby sign as Vaati flew off of his back and beside Link, getting a full look on the creature.

"Hoot hoot hoot! My, that was a close call!" the owl cheered, folding his wings to his sides. He was obviously too large to be a normal owl, looking about the size of Link and Vaati combined in both height and weight. The feathers on his chest looked more like light brown scales, while the feathers on his face looked soft, almost fur-like. He had huge yellow eyes, mostly covered by apparent eyebrows that looked more like two massive feathers above his eyes, separated by a large beak. Below his beak and before the fur-feathers became like scales, there was a design that looked like another pair of black eyes. His wings, however, were the key objects that caught both Link and Vaati's eyes. The owl's wingspan was, like the rest of him, massive, but the design was the same as the wing on the cave wall's from Castor Wilds.

Link brought the flute into sight. "The wind made the flute play the song, and you came."

The owl nodded at the obvious information. "Hoot, indeed. I am the Messenger of Legend. But before I was dubbed that, I was known as the sage Kaepora Gaebora." He leaned in closer to the small team. "Nice to meet you in person, Link and Vaati. Although I've met you both before."

Link just stared at Kaepora, puzzled. Vaati however, lit up as he finally recognized the owl's voice.

"You've been helping me this whole time." Vaati pointed out, meaning to put it in a question but ended up a statement.

Link blinked, even more puzzled. Vaati caught his confusement and explained the reoccurring voice that had aided him multiple times since Twi was kidnapped.

"I don't get it." Link said after Vaati finished. "Why didn't you show yourself earlier if you were already helping us?"

"You have read the legend. I must wait for the sound of the flute to fully awaken. The information I gave to Vaati was merely for you two too find and use the flute. I was given orders to not show myself until you both are worthy."

"By who?" Vaati asked, causing Kaepora to turn his head in an impossible angle to look at him.

"The same one who used to be your master."

Vaati just blinked, letting Link ask the obvious.

"You mean Ezlo knew what we were doing?"

"More or less. Hoot hoot! But I am sure he'd like to explain it himself." Kaepora shook similar to what a dog does after a bath. "Are you ready to depart to the Minish World?"

Both heroes blinked for a while before the information truly processed. Link's face lit up, relieved to had finally found what they were looking for and were on the next step. Vaati's face lit up for a while before it fell again, his eyes downcast. Link nodded at Keapora's question, a heroic smile painted on his face.

"Now, then, at first I was expecting to carry only one body, but as you saw before, I am capable of carrying two. You both will need to be touching me to reach past the gate."

Vaati took that as a hint that he'd be riding on his back for the trip. Kaepora flapped his wings, no longer perched on the sign but hovering in the air for a while as Link put his arms in the talon's grasp. Vaati also took that as a chance to mount the messenger before they took off into the blue sky yet again.

A few minutes passed in silence before someone finally spoke.

"Kaepora Gaebora, is it?" Vaati asked, looking ahead with an expressionless face.

"Yes, indeed." The character formerly known as the voice said.

"Does Master know I'm still alive? Or that I returned?"

Link looked up at Vaati, both awaiting the answer.

"Minish Sage Ezlo does know the possibility that you are alive, but he doesn't know if it is true. He asked me to guide Link to the flute, but he was occupied with the princess's health and your return."

Link looked downward in slight embarrassment, remembering the events of Zelda's health, Vaati's return, the attack of the shadow monster, and Dark Vaati's entrance. He was quite occupied, too occupied for the owl to communicate with him. Said owl kept speaking in his low, wise-sounding voice.

"He knows nothing of the one you call Dark Vaati. He knows only of the Princess's condition and a great evil escaping."

"So," Vaati began, pausing for a moment before speaking again. "he won't be fully expecting me."

"Hoot, indeed."

Link looked back up at Vaati, catching the nervous expression he was trying to hide. He quickly showed his best confident smile.

"Don't worry, Vaati." He started, catching Vaati's attention. "I'm sure Ezlo will forgive you."

Vaati just stared down at Link for a few seconds before looking back ahead. He wouldn't admit it, but Link gave him a little bit on confidence. He saw the Castle Town come into view, and within a few minutes it went past and they were flying towards the Castle, which came closer and closer until it was obvious that they were fly to it. Kaepora seemed to catch Link and Vaati's confusion and explained.

"The gate I use is on the Castle. The Hyrulian crest to be more specific on where it is."

Both Link and Vaati nodded in understanding and face ahead again, looks of determination on their faces. Link glanced in one of the windows and found a blonde girl looking back at him. She smiled and waved her hand covered in a long, light pink glove. A royal tiara rested on her head, pulling her bangs back out of her face. Link waved back at the princess before Kaepora gained altitude, sending his sight of the girl further away. The Hyrulian crest that rested ontop of the castle came closer and closer, and Kaepora gained more speed. Both Link and Vaati braced themselves as the owl flew them straight through the middle of the pyramid made of triangles, right were there was an open space, and they heard the familiar tune of the chant needed to shrink to Minish size.

x-x-x-x-x-x-

A large, muscular shadow growled in anger, causing most of the prisoners of the Shadow Realm to cower in fear. The shadow infront of him only flinched, showing much more bravery than the other shadows.

"HOW could you lose to YOURSELF? You've had training! HOW?"

Dark Vaati sighed, knowing that this was going to be his welcome party when he fled the scene of the Light Realm. His appearance was back in only shades of black, his ruby eyes the only color on him.

"It seems he's make allies with the blonde Hero. How, I have no idea."

His King growled again, turning his back on his minion. "Fine, then. Did you at least get information on them like you were supposed to?"

"Yes. They had some sort of instrument with them. I'm not sure what they are doing with it, but I think they are trying to find my old master."

"Hmmm...the one you cursed into a hat?"

"Not my best plan," Dark Vaati admitted, "but yes. They must be trying to get to the Shadow Realm. You really must've taken something special to him. I don't know why a girl is so important, though..."

The King seemed to ponder this. "She is not as valuable as the Princess, nor is she important. But we will need her to lure that damned wind mage here. Maybe we can kill her, that will torture your light self for sure..."

Dark Vaati flinched backwards at his King's newest plan. "But, my King! I want revenge! To pulverize him into nothing! If you kill the girl, he will have no reason to come here!"

The large shadow looked back at Dark Vaati, who braced himself for another tantrum. "Very well. We will spare her for now." Dark Vaati's smirk returned, satisfied. The king continued, "But if it comes down to it, I will kill her."

His minion that shared the same face as the wind mage bowed, accepting his words. He turned, his cape flowing behind him as he exited.

"Dark Vaati." The King called, causing the shadow to stop at the door, not turning around but waiting for his words. "You better not be going soft on me. Feelings for this girl will not be tolerated."

Dark Vaati quickly spun around, insulted by his king's interpretation of him. "Me, have feelings for a light world girl? Please, my lord, be more realistic. Once my light self is exterminated, I will kill her myself if you ask. And I'd enjoy the rude girl's screams."

The King of the Shadow Realm nodded, accepting the answer, and Dark Vaati marched away to the chamber were the girl was held. His shoulder was half-way healed, but the bloodstains were still noticeable. As he reached the door, he simply walked through it, a black portal allowing him entrance, and to the familiar balcony-like prison with Twi standing leaning against the railing, staring out at the dark world.

"Your little hero is quite the fighter." He commented, causing Twi to glance back at him with a glare. He rolled his eyes.

"So rude. Here I was trying to be nice and tell you what was happening in the Light World...oh well." He sat in the air, his power was greater in the Shadow Realm, allowing him with more magic, and he held his hands behind his head in a relaxing pose, his feet hovering just inches off of the ground. He closed his eyes to add to the whole relaxing pose.

"You just want to give me false hope." Twi said in an emotionless tone. Dark Vaati cracked open one eye, glaring at her.

"Maybe I am. And maybe I am telling the truth." He closed his eye again. "But you'll never know if you don't listen."

"What exactly do you hope to accomplish here?"

Dark Vaati opened both of his eyes and looked at Twi with a questioning expression. "I'm sorry?"

"You heard me."

He rolled his eyes and brushed his hands through his long bangs as he spoke. "That's a simple answer. I hope to accomplish aiding my King to take over Hyrule."

"And what good does that do you?"

"I get power. What are you finding so confusing?"

Twi just rolled her eyes and put her attention back on the Shadow Realm. "You're power-thirsty. Figures."

Dark Vaati just smirked evilly. "I believe this is the longest conversation we've had, little princess."

"Don't get used to it." Twi replied, resting her head on her hands, her elbows propped on the railing of the balcony. Dark Vaati rolled his eyes.

She wouldn't admit it to Dark Vaati that she was homesick, he'd only use it to taunt her. She wouldn't allow him such pleasure. But she missed the green grass and trees of Picori Woods, the friendliness of Castle Town...she could feel the memory of her mother's voice fading away. She quickly pushed her homesickness away, not willing to allow anyone, especially the monster that shared her dear friend's face, to see her cry.

* * *

_**What's this? MidnightTwi's updating rate is evolving? :O (sorry, been playing a lot of Pokemon Yellow version lately.)**_

_**Twi's back in the writing! XD Been a while since we've heard from her. Now...is it slightly DarkVaatixTwi? Probably not. The arguement between the Big Guy and Dark Vaati was just my boredom. So it's still VaatixTwi. Just in case you were...or weren't wondering.**_

_**Now that I am getting to the parts I had wanted to write since the begining, maybe writing will get easy again for this. I wanna finish this by the end of 2012, by summer would be more enjoyable...now if only I didn't have a small attention span...or ADD of some sort. (I am not tested for it, but I sometimes wonder if i have it XD don't we all? ) **_

_**Well, just wondering, who was expecting ol' Kaepora Gaebora to be the legendary Messenger/the voice in Vaati's head? I never got any guesses for the Messenger, but a few people tried guessing who the voice was, and I got a lot of good guesses...**_

_**Review if you feel fit.**_

_**-MidnightTwi**_


	24. Chapter 24: Enter Ezlo

Vaati's mouth turned to a small smile when he saw the familiar landscape of the Minish World. So many memories, some good and some bad, laid to rest in his old home. There was the Minish School, were he went for a while before being chosen as the great Sage Ezlo's apprentice. There was the park that consisted of twigs (to a normal-sized Hylian, at least) that built the mini swings, teeter totters, slides, etc. He'd usually hang out there alone before returning to his Master's workshop. He wasn't too popular, really.

"You look like you're happy to be back." Link pointed out, direction Vaati's attention to him.

"I suppose you can say that."

When Kaepora began to descend toward the ground, an emotion known as nervousness settled in. Vaati sighed at the return of that horrid emotion.

_I can't take back what I did to Master. And according to Kaepora, he doesn't fully expect me to still be here_. Vaati shook his head, separating those thoughts away. _No sense in worrying about it. If he is still mad at me, maybe Link and Kaepora can convince him I'm not evil..._

Link glanced in every direction, taking in the view. He'd never known what to expect of the Minish World, but this was no doubt incredible. They used anything and everything to create a world identical to Hyrule, but only Minish-sized and lacking a castle. Still, it was impressive. There were even human items like shoes that had been turned into houses and nail filers for bridges. Everything was so beautiful, so peaceful...it was hard to see how loud and obnoxious Ezlo or once-evil Vaati originated from here. But that was a question for another day.

Now it was almost time to see his friend's face again. Of course he had to remind himself that Ezlo was no longer a cursed talking green hat that seemed to resemble a bird, but now he was his uncursed, original Sage form. He had only seen Ezlo in his original form for about 5 minutes, his hat form he saw for a whole adventure. So it was a challenge sometimes.

_I wonder how Ezlo's been without me? I wonder if he still remembers me, or if there's some sort of separate time-zones between here and Hyrule and although it's been only a year in Hyrule it's...like 1000 years here?_ Link's mind and imagination wandered. _I hope not_.

Kaepora finally reached the ground of the Minish World and allowed Link to land on the dirt before settling himself on the ground. Vaati quickly jumped off, both he and Link were eager to meet up with the Minish Sage. Link took a quick look around.

"So where's Ezlo?" He asked, subconsciously fixing his green hat.

"The Minish Sage is in his workshop, expecting you as we speak." Kaepora informed, causing Link to look up at him in confusion. Vaati seemed to read his mind.

"I remember where it is." He volunteered, turning in the southern direction. "It's not too far from here."

Link nodded and followed Vaati when he started walking, glancing back at Kaepora to give a small wave of thanks. Soon, he was back to glancing around him, noticing the Minish were hiding in their homes, peering at them through the windows. He nervously fidgeted with his fingers, feeling self-conscious under the cute creatures eyes.

"Ummm...Vaati, why is everyone hiding?"

Vaati glanced around also noticing the scared and curious stares.

"Either they're frightened because two Hylians just rode in on a giant owl and waltzed into their world when they know for a fact that the gate between our worlds are closed...or they remember me from when I pushed them around a bit for revenge...one or the other...or both, who knows?"

Link blinked at the long explanation he just got from Vaati. He muttered an "oh..." and let the subject drop. He didn't realize that not only does Hyrule not trust him, but the Minish World probably is still bitter, too. Thankfully, the Minish seem to be more peaceful creatures. After passing a small park and what seemed to be the Minish equivalent of a cafe, Vaati stopped infront of a small house made from part of a log. On it was carved what looked like Hylian but judging by how Link couldn't understand it, was probably the Minish Language.

"This would be it." Vaati confirmed, not moving from his spot. Link nodded before turning towards Vaati.

"Are you going to be ok? You look pale...er than usual."

Vaati looked over at Link with his eyes, keeping his head straight. "I'll be fine. You don't need to worry about me."

Link shrugged. "Hey, believe it or not, we're friends. As friends and as allies, I'm supposed to care. Sorry to disappoint."

Vaati smirked. He had a hard time believing it a while ago, but by some weird twist of fate, he and the hero were friends.

"You can go on ahead then. When I figure out how the heck I am supposed to apologize for cursing my master, I'll join you."

Link blinked before crossing his arms over his chest.

"Alright, but if you take too long I'll come to get you." He walked towards to door before pausing. "If you have to think so much about apologizing to someone for a delusional decision, you're going to have a hard time confessing to Twi."

Link opened the door, leaving a blushing Vaati staring at the door stammering "what?". Link snickered to himself, even though he didn't see Vaati before walking inside, he could imagine the violet color-schemed male standing out there, red eyes wide and a pink blush across his face. Yep, he was going to regret teasing him someday, but he just couldn't stop himself sometimes. He quickly got over his laughing when he looked around the room he just entered. It was quite bare, the occasional table here and there, mainly it was just bookshelves and chairs. Actually, it very much reminded him of Linn the GraveMinish's home, only brighter and more cheerful. He took in a breath and walked deeper inside, looking around for the white-bearded face of his old friend. Turning the corner, a small hallway stretched infront of him, one of the nearby doors opened slightly. Link slowly looked around the corner of the doorway, hearing a small snip of scissors (or whatever Minish use for scissors) before seeing the familiar green robe and long white hair tied in a very loose ponytail, a small bun ontop of his head, and a long skinny staff with a bird-like creature carved at the top of it, reminding Link greatly of the little hat he had met this man as. Link just stood there for a moment, waiting for Ezlo to turn around and notice him, but after a full minute decided to knock lightly on the door frame to catch the Sage's attention.

Ezlo glanced behind him and was about to dismiss the hero as another Minish, but then his mind fully registered who was behind him and he fully turned around, black eyes wide in slight surprise.

"Link! You made it!"

Link showed a full smile, finding it still a little weird to hear Ezlo speak without the trademark "SQUAK!" he was used to.

"Well, according to your Messenger bird, you were expecting me. I couldn't keep a friend waiting, right?"

Ezlo grabbed his skinny staff and walked to Link, reaching a little shorter than Link's full height.

"Well, I suppose we should move past the 'how have you been's and 'long time no see's to move onto the more serious matters." He said, putting on a more serious face. "I'm sure you are aware of this, but both your world and mine are in danger."

Link nodded before the distant sound of a door opening came to their ears. Ezlo's head tilted slightly at the sound.

"Now who might that be?" He asked, about to walk into the hallway to check for visitors when Link's voice stopped him.

"Actually, I didn't come alone."

Footsteps were barely audible as they made their way to the room Link and Ezlo were in. Ezlo's eyes widened slightly, not so much as in fear but more in surprise, as Vaati appeared in the doorway and paused, smiling a little bit and tilting his head down to the point his bangs covered almost all of his face.

"I thought you'd be in here." He stated quietly, almost as if he were shy.

A moment of silence passed, no one moving or even daring to breathe. Finally, Ezlo chose to break the unhealthy silence.

"So you've returned." It was meant to be a question but it came out more as a statement. Still no one moved or spoke for a while until this time Vaati broke the silence.

"I'm sorry Master." He apologized, and after a few seconds of silence he continued. "I was just a mere student, I wanted to be recognized as myself, not just as the Sage's Successor. I wanted to be like the Hylians that used fear and strength to be recognized, and I traveled further into the dark side." He paused again, waiting to hear a reply from his master, still looking at the ground. When no reply came, he continued again. "Then after I was defeated by you and Link and sent to the Shadow Realm, I began to question my existence again. During my time in that hell, I was able to find my previous thoughts to be just delusions made up in my own imagination that caused me to become what I became. I broke out and found that Hyrule was being threatened by darkness again by a man locked away in the Shadow Realm known as the Big Guy, and I want to show that I have changed by helping Link save it again. I know I can't take back what I did but-"

"Vaati." He was interrupted by Ezlo and he raised his head at his former master that was now walking towards him. "I was disappointed when you chose to walk to the darkness, as you Master your were my responsibility. But you were able to escape the evil on your own and work to a good cause, and for that, as your Master, I am proud."

Vaati and Link's faces both lit up slightly, relieved that the awkwardness had passed. Ezlo spoke up again.

"But, to be honest, I am still a little bitter for being turned into a hat." He pointed out, causing the heroes' attention to turn to him again. Without warning, Ezlo lifted up his staff and smacked Vaati in the head with it.

"There. Now I feel better." He finished as Vaati rubbed his head where he was hit.

"Ow. Traveling with Link has made you violent." Vaati said, no real anger showing.

"I'm not violent." Link pouted slightly, his arms folded over his chest.

Ezlo chuckled slightly. "So I assume you had found a way to escape the Shadow Realm Link and I had transported you to."

"Yes, your hat had followed me and slowly regained it's power." Vaati confirmed.

"I see. I'm surprised my magic could match the Light Force that keeps the Shadow Realm contained."

"Actually..." Link added uncertainly, "Zelda had gotten sick, and so the Light Force has been failing recently and allowing monsters out again."

"The Princess has gotten ill?" Ezlo asked, bewildered. "The darkness's doing, I assume."

"But the real mastermind is some self-proclaimed King from the Shadow Realm." Link said, catching Ezlo's attention yet again. He turned to Vaati in a silent gesture to explain.

"There was this demon of a King that pretty much ruled the Shadow Realm. He had the most impressive power and magic I've ever witnessed. No one stood up to him. Everyone called him the Big Guy or Shadow King."

Ezlo pondered on the thought. "This new character may not be self-proclaimed." He glanced at the confused looks on the youngers' faces. "In the legend of the Hero of Time, it told of a Gerudo King who seized Hyrule Castle as his own and forced the Princess into hiding while he ruled. He was slain by the Hero of Time, of course."

Link just blinked. "What was the point in telling us that, then? He's dead, I've heard that story before."

"That is Hylians' version. The story I was taught is a little more...correct. The Hero of Time did fight him, and won, but the King was not slain...He was locked into a world of nothing, a world that had grown into the Shadow Realm. He knew dark magic and possessed the mark of Power."

"Wait...you're saying that the Big Guy is actually that evil king? But he's centuries old!"

"Life is very strange in the Shadow Realm." Vaati cut in. "I've seen many creatures there get tortured by the Big Guy to the point when they should be dead, but most of them remain without any physical appearance of abuse. If he is the evil king, then the Shadow Realm is just feeding his power, making him seemingly immortal." Ezlo nodded in approval.

"His name I believe is Ganondorf." The elder informed. "He is most likely our main threat."

"Not our only threat, though." Link said, causing Ezlo to flinch back.

"What do you mean? There's more?"

Link nodded. "Since Vaati here turned good, the Big Guy...I mean, Ganondorf made a evil version of him we call Dark Vaati."

"A...Shadow version of Vaati?" Ezlo asked, followed by two nods. "...But why? He wasn't one to create Shadow Creatures like that, unless it was someone he truly wanted revenge on."

"That's me." Vaati confirmed. "I'm pretty sure he was furious when I was able to leave the Shadow Realm, since that was all he talked about himself. So he sent a Shadow after me and kidnapped an innocent girl."

Ezlo sighed. "You two just can't stay out of trouble, can you?"

"Guess not." Link laughed in a nervous way, rubbing the back of his neck.

"But we need to get to the Shadow Realm." Vaati informed. "I was told that you could help us find the goddesses."

Ezlo arched an eyebrow. "Get into the Shadow Realm? I suppose that would be the most effective way to beat Ganondorf, but all we need to focus on now is resealing the Shadow Realm entrance. That would keep him and his shadows locked in that prison."

"...It's not to beat Ganondorf."

"Pardon?"

Vaati sighed and told his Master of the girl that helped him at the beginning of his new journey, Link adding details of the fight between him, Vaati, and the Shadow Monster and again when Dark Vaati appeared and kidnapped the cosplayer. Ezlo blinked a few times before sighing.

"Another innocent girl dragged into a prison." He said sadly, remembering how cold Zelda looked in her stone cocoon. "So our mission is to get the girl out and seal it up before Ganondorf can get out, preferably when Dark Vaati is in the Shadow Realm, also."

Link and Vaati nodded. Ezlo sighed again but perked up in optimism.

"Well, finding the Goddesses won't be a problem. I already know where they are."

"What?" Link asked out. "How? Where?"

"Well, their Hylian forms, anyway. I knew they were in Hyrule before, but my travels with you confirmed exactly where. They live in Hyrule Town, all three of them. You should remember them, Link, they're the pretty girls you helped find houses."

Link blushed slightly but nodded, showing that he recalled the memory. Ezlo smiled again before tapping the bottom of his staff on the floor.

"Well, then let's set off. Can't have Vaati's new girlfriend waiting on him, now can we?"

Vaati lowered his head, his bangs covering his face. "Not you too..."

* * *

**_I had finished this chapter a while back...I actually thought I had already posted this...hehhe...oops. XD_**

**_Well, EZLO'S BACK! XD Man, this story is close to being over...*sniff* they grow up so fast! Actually I've been thinking about writing another VaatixTwi story after this one ends...not sure if I want it to be a sequel or if I should create a whole new story in a different Zelda game like Wind Waker or Four Swords._**

**_I'd like to hear what you think on this subject! Review if you want to be heard._**

**_-MidnightTwi_**


	25. Chapter 25: The Goddesses

Kaepora flapped at the ground to soften the landing for the riders, once again setting Link down on the ground before actually landing. Vaati jumped off of the large owl, a slight breeze softening his own landing. A little green speck held onto his cape on his shoulder.

"Are you sure you'd rather stay as a Minish while we're here, Ezlo?" Link asked, looking at the green speck that nodded.

"Of course! This way I wont get in the way of battle if it may come, and you wont have to explain an elder following you around. I'm sure the Hylians would consider that 'creepy'." Ezlo said.

"Wow you thought of everything! ...Are you sure it isn't just because you don't want to walk on your own?"

"What? Whatever gave you that idea!" The minish yelled, Link still finding it odd to hear Ezlo yelling without the "SQWACK!" he was used to.

"Well, when we first met you attacked my head because you couldn't keep up."

"I DIDN'T HAVE FEET!"

Vaati rolled his eyes. "I could always turn you back into a hat. It'd be like old times."

"ACK! Don't even THINK about it, Vaati!"

"Actually I kind of like that idea."

"LINK!"

Ezlo continued arguing with the hero and ex-villain, shaking his fist comically in which Link poked him, causing the minish to fall off balance and cling to Vaati's shoulder for support. Kaepora watched it all from the background, once again becoming forgotten. He swore that he sweat-dropped as if he were in a game when Vaati began acting as if he were preparing a spell to change his master into a hat again, Link playing along and Ezlo nearly having a heart attack as he cursed at both of them.

The owl sighed before taking off again. _These are the heroes and their teacher? Nayru save us..._

Ezlo stepped onto Link's hand as they neared Hyrule Town, a sounds seemed to have silenced slightly since their last visit. Link frowned at the lack of noise, knowing his home to be full of children that would shout and play. Now it seemed as if Hyrule were mourning, even the skies seemed to darken.

"That doesn't seem right." Ezlo said, voicing all of their concerns. "Have the Hylians gotten less excitable since I remember?"

"No. Something must've happened...We need to find the goddesses fast; I have a bad feeling." Link said, looking as if he were going to be sick.

"You and Master need to go look for them." Vaati almost commanded, his gut also telling him of bad things. "I'll ask around if anything has happened."

Link nodded and Ezlo tilted his head in confusion, not understanding if Hyrule had forgiven his successor or not. As Link ran into Hyrule Town, Vaati took to the skies, going to the direction of Minish Woods. Link quickly ran a beeline for one of the houses he had unknowingly helped one of the goddesses find, not even bothering to knock on the door. Two girls gasped as the door opened but quickly changed into smiles once they recognized Link. A tan girl with a perfect hourglass figure smiled sweetly, her red hair pulled back into a long ponytail.

"Link, how are you!" She greeted, not offended at all that he just ran into her house. The girl at the table smiled and waved, a cute smile on her face. She, too, was beautiful with her green locks pulled into short pigtail-buns. Both wore an outfit to match their hair color.

"Din! Farore! ...wow how did I not put that together?" Link said, rubbing the back of his neck. Both girls blinked in confusion.

"What are you talking about?" The red-head, Din, asked.

"Never mind. I need your and Nayru's help!"

"She's...at her house...May I ask why?" Farore asked, clearly lost.

"I know you three are the goddesses. I need your power to help save Hyrule again."

Din and Nayru blinked, not any less confused than they already were. Ezlo sighed and waved, directing their attention to him and put the palms of his hands together in a prayer-like pose; his eyes closed and head tilted down.

"O goddesses of old, I pray to thee. Your land is casted into darkness, while hosts still alive. Awaken them and fill them with the power you once possessed so that we may save Hyrule once again." As he prayed, Din and Farore were bathed in a holy light that seemed to have come from nowhere, once he stopped praying the light dimmed and faded.

"What...was that?" Link asked as the girls blinked.

"They were not yet fully realized. Unaware that they possessed the power of the goddesses. Now they know." Ezlo explained and Farore gasped.

"The Minish Sage...and Link!" She said almost breathlessly. "Yes, how can we help?"

As soon as Vaati landed, monsters of different species attacked, seeming to have come from nowhere. He quickly tore each one apart, using the wind as his blade. The ones that had come far enough to touch him had their necks broken manually by him. He growled as he spilled the blood of another Octorock.

_I guess that answers my questions_! He thought to himself, continuing to be surrounded by the ambush.

He severed many limbs from monsters and decapitated even more, going for the fatal kills instead of actually fighting. But more and more kept coming, bodies upon bodies of monsters were quickly decomposing into ash and blew away as he wind-slashed more. Having enough of being toyed with, he quickly spun in a circle; the wind following him and produced an altered version of the famous Spin Attack. The monsters remaining didn't seem intimidated at all; acting as if they were blood-thirsty zombies. Vaati glared at broke another monster's neck, not even bothering to see what species it was.

"Incoming." The wind carried the words to Vaati, who paused slightly and allowed a monster to grab ahold of him.

Seconds later a large brown blur made a perfect circle around Vaati near the ground, taking out all of the surrounding monsters and also knocking off the one that had put him in a headlock. The monsters remaining all looked dazed, allowing Vaati to produce another Wind Spin Attack to finish the rest of them. Nearly a second after the spin attack faded, Vaati felt himself being lifted into the air by talons gripping onto his arms. He sighed and looked up at Kaepora Gaebora.

"Thanks. That was vicious."

"My pleasure." Kaepora said, nodding. "It seems that all of Hoot-rule is waiting for an ambush."

Vaati looked down at the land, seeing the hidden monsters placed in different locations as if for war. He glared, his heart full of hatred.

"The Big Guy...I mean...Ganondorf is getting stronger...Or Zelda is getting weaker..."

"Or maybe both." Kaepora added to the possibilities.

"Right." Vaati said depressingly, his bangs covering his face.

"Minish Sage Ezlo has informed me that they have gathered the goddesses and the Princess." Kaepora said, changing the subject. "I shall take your to where they await. Hold on, hoot hoot!"

"I should be telling YOU to hold on." Vaati said, looking at the talons that held him up.

Kaepora quickly descended, tilting his wings and combined body weight to turn in the direction they need and flapping when they need to go up. He flew in the direction of Hyrule Town and circled it slightly, like a vulture to its meal before flapping and facing the direction of Hyrule Castle, descending slightly as they went forward. Hyrule Town quickly passed under them, and Vaati found himself looking at the fields located between the Castle and it's Town. He saw a few people gathered in the middle of four trees; a place he remembered from his villain days.

"I'll be dropping you off, now! Good luck, hoot hoot!" Kaepore said before unclenching his talons, sending Vaati down towards the land. He quickly slowed his speed and landed next to Zelda and Link softly, hearing the end of their conversation.

"You're sick! You need to go lay down, the goddesses can handle this!" Link said, frowning at Zelda.

"Link, don't treat me like Father does. I have to help!" Zelda argued in return.

The three girls nearby rolled their eyes and smiled at their friendship. The girl with striking blue hair stepped forward.

"We must begin. The Princess can assist us. We will make sure she can withstand such power to be extracted from her." She said softly, her eyes seemingly the same shade as her hair.

Link sighed and nodded, allowing his best friend to stand next to the three goddesses. Ezlo cleared his throat.

"Vaati is here, now we can continue!" He announced, which everyone but Link seemed to have already noticed Vaati. "Din, Nayru, Farore, Princess Zelda! Please lend us your power!"

The four girls nodded and stood in a certain position; the girl with firey locks in the back while the girl with grass-colored hair stood at the right side with the water-colored haired girl on the left. Zelda stood in the middle of them, each pressed their palms together in the same prayer pose Ezlo had performed earlier. Already, the minish could feel the magic in the atmosphere strengthen.

"O heroes of Hyrule; I lend you the power to tame even the hottest flames." The red-head, Din, prayed. The light around her seemed to have turned red.

"O warriors of legend; I lend you the wisdom to tame even the greatest seas." The blue-haired girl, Nayru, prayed. Like Din, the light around her changed as well but this time changed to blue. Zelda's left hand started glowing gold, unnoticed by her but not by Link. He looked down at his own hand.

"O fighters of light; I lend you the courage to tame even the strongest winds." The green-haired girl, Farore, prayed. The light around her turned green and Link's left hand glowed gold, just like Zelda's.

"O destined heroes; we offer you the power, wisdom, and courage of Hyrule. May you put it to good use." Princess Zelda prayed, and the light of both her and the goddesses turned gold, basking Link, Ezlo, and Vaati in the light. They all shielded their eyes as it shone brighter and brighter until they couldn't see anything at all.

"May you return to us when the bell rings."

Suddenly the light faded, the atmosphere turned colder and the natural sounds of Hyrule changed to sounds of sorrow. Slowly, Vaati's eyes adjusted to the lack of light and a dark land was infront of him. Cells that held mere shadows stood and some of the creatures fiddled with their chains, causing them to clink together. Vaati's eyes glared at the world they had entered, unwanted memories returning to him.

"How nice." Ezlo commented sarcastically.

"So this is it?" Link asked, also taking in the horrid view but mostly looking at the castle-like structure in the distance.

"Yep. Welcome to my old prison...The Shadow Realm...or Hell is more like it." Vaati said, looking out to the place he hated most. Never did he really want to return, but if it meant saving a life then so be it.

_We're finally coming, Twi._

* * *

**_Through the woods and over the Town, to the Shadow Realm we go!_**

**_Ahem. Well, as you can guess, Vaati, Link, and Ezlo's journey through the Shadow Realm will be the next chapter! How will they reach Twi? Will Ganondorf attack? Will our heroes fail? Or will Vaati and Twi have a fluffy romantic reunion?_**

**_well...you tell me. XD I hope you all like!_**

**_Review if you want._**

**_-MidnightTwi_**


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